QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS 


BY 

CAROLINE   EMELIA   STEPHEN 

AUTHOR  OF   "the  SBRVICB  OF  THB   POOR  " 


PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY  LONGSTRETH,  740  SANSOM  STREET 
1  891 


5^Z 


/- 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PACK 

Introduction  ...  ...            ...            ...            ...         i 

I.     Organization  ...            ...            ...            ...               6 

II.     The  Inner  Light  ...             ...             ...             ...       20 

III.  Worship     ...  ...            ...            ...         •   ...              51 

IV.  Free  Ministry  ...            ...            ...            ...       91 

V.     Special  Testimonies  ...            ...            ...            n8 

VI.     Our  Calling     ...  ...            ...            ...            ...      157 

Appendix    ...  ..•            ...            ...            ...            199 


*I75J(^000 


QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Whether  Quakerism  be,  as  some  Friends  believe, 
destined  to  any  considerable  revival  or  not,  it 
seems  at  least  certain  that  any  important  revival 
of  religion  must  be  the  result  of  a  fresh  recogni- 
tion and  acceptance  of  the  very  princiolss  upon 
which  the  Society  of  Friends  is  built.  What  these 
principles  and  the  practices  resulting  from  them 
really  are,  is  a  subject  on  which  there  is  a  sur- 
prising amount  of  ignorance  amongst  us,  consider- 
ing how  widely  spread  is  the  connection  with 
and  interest  about  Friends  amongst  the  members 
of  other  persuasions.  One  seldom  meets  any  one 
who  has  not  some  link  with  the  Society,  and  yet 
it  is  rare  to  find  any  one  not  belonging  to  it  at 
all  accurately  informed  as  to  its  point  of  view  or 
its  organization.  The  notorious  disinclination  of 
Friends  to  any  attempts  at  proselytizing,  and 
perhaps  some  lingering  effects  of  persecution,  prob- 


2  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

ably  account  for  the  very  common  impression 
that  Friends'  meetings  are  essentially  private — 
mysterious  gatherings  into  which  it  would  be 
intrusive  to  seek  admission.  Many  people,  indeed, 
probably  suppose  (if  they  think  about  it  at  all) 
that  such  meetings  are  no  longer  held ;  that  the 
Society  is  fast  dying  out,  and  the  "  silent  worship  " 
of  tradition  is  a  thing  of  the  past — impracticable,  and 
hardly  to  be  seriously  mentioned  in  these  days  of 
talk  and  of  breathless  activity. 

Some  such  vague  impression  floated,  I  believe, 
over  my  own  mind,  when,  some  seventeen  years 
ago,  I  first  found  myself  within  reach  of  a  Friends' 
meeting,  and,  somewhat  to  my  surprise,  cordially 
made  welcome  to  attend  it.  The  invitation  came 
at  a  moment  of  need,  for  I  was  beginning  to  feel 
with  dismay  that  I  might  not  much  longer  be  able 
conscientiously  to  continue  to  join  in  the  Church 
of  England  service ;  not  for  want  of  appreciation 
of  its  unrivalled  richness  and  beauty,  but  from 
doubts  of  the  truth  of  its  doctrines,  combined  with 
a  growing  recognition  that  to  me  it  was  as  the 
armour  of  Saul  in  its  elaboration  and  in  the  sus- 
tained pitch  of  religious  fervour  for  which  it  was 
meant  to  provide  an  utterance.  Whether  true  or 
not  in  its  speculative  and  theoretical  assumptions, 
it  was  clear  to  me  that  it  was  far  from  true  as  a 


INTRO  DUCTIOX.  3 

periodical  expression  of  my  own  experience,  belief, 
or  aspiration.  The  more  vividly  one  feels  the 
force  of  its  eloquence,  the  more,  it  seems  to  me, 
one  must  hesitate  to  adopt  it  as  the  language  of 
one's  own  soul,  and  the  more  unlikely  it  is  that 
such  heights  and  depths  of  feeling  as  it  demands 
should  be  ready  to  fill  its  magnificent  channels 
every  Sunday  morning  at  a  given  hour.  The 
questionings  with  which  at  that  period  I  was 
painfully  struggling  were  stirred  into  redoubled 
activity  by  the  dogmatic  statements  and  assump- 
tions w^ith  which  the  Liturgy  abounds,  and  its  un- 
broken flow  left  no  loophole  for  the  utterance  of 
my  own  less  disciplined,  but  to  myself  far  more 
urgent,  cries  for  help.  Thus  the  hour  of  public 
worship,  which  should  have  been  a  time  of  spiritual 
strengthening  and  calming,  became  to  me  a  time 
of  renewed  conflict,  and  of  occasional  exaltation 
and  excitement  of  emotion,  leading  but  too  surely 
to  reaction  and  apathy. 

I  do  not  attempt  to  pass  any  judgment  on  this 
mental  condition.  I  have  described  it  at  some 
length  because  I  cannot  believe  it  to  be  altogether 
exceptional,  or  without  significance.  At  any  rate, 
it  was  fast  leading  me  to  dread  the  moment  when 
1  should  be  unable  either  to  find  the  help  I  needed, 
or  to  offer  my  tribute  of  devotion  in  any  place  of 


4  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

A 

worship  amongst  my  fellow-Christians/    When  lo, 
on    one   never-to-be-forgotten  Sunday    morning,  I 
found  myself  one  of  a  small  company  of  silent  wor- 
shippers, who  were  content  to  sit  down   together 
without  words,  that  each  one  might  feel  after  and 
draw  near  to  the  Divine  Presence,  unhindered  aL 
least,    if    not     helped,   by   any   human    utterance. 
Utterance  I   knew  was  free,  should  the  words  be 
given  ;  and  before  the  meeting  was  over,  a  sentence 
or  two  were  uttered  in  great  simplicity  by  an  old 
and  apparently  untaught  man,  rising  in   his  place 
amongst  the  rest  of  us.     I  did  not  pay  much  atten- 
tion to  the  words  he  spoke,  and  I  have  no  recollec- 
tion of  their  purport.     My  whole  soul  was  filled  with 
the  unutterable  peace  of  the  undisturbed  opportunity 
for  communion  with  God,  with  the  sense  that  at  last 
I   had  found  a  place  where  I  might,  without  the 
faintest   suspicion   of  insincerity,  join    with  others 
in   simply  seeking   His  presence.     To  sit  down  in 
silence  could  at  the  least  pledge  me  to  nothing ;  it 
might  open    to   me  (as  it   did   that  morning)  the 
very    gate  of  heaven. /And  since  that   day,  now 
more  than  seventeen  years  ago.  Friends'  meetings 
have  indeed  been  to  me  the  greatest  of  outward 
helps  to  a  fuller  and  fuller   entrance  into  the  spirit 
from  which  they  have  sprung ;    the  place  of  the 
most  soul-subduing,  faith-restoring,  strengthening, 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

and  peaceful  communion,  in  feeding  upon  the  bread 
of  life,  that    I    have   ever    known.      I   cannot  but 
believe  that  what  has  helped  me  so   unspeakably 
might    be    helpful    to    multitudes    in    this    day    of 
shaking  of  all  that  can  be  shaken,  and  of  restless 
inquiry  after  spiritual  good.     It  is  in  the  hope  of 
making   more  widely  known  the  true   source  and 
nature  of  such  spiritual  help   that  I    am  about  to 
attempt  to  describe  what  I  have  called  our  strong- 
holds— those  principles  which  cannot  fail,  whatever 
may  be  the  future  of  the  Society  which  for  more 
than  two  hundred  years  has  taken  its  stand  upon 
them.     I    wish    to  trace,   as  far  as  my  experience 
as  a   "  convinced  Friend "    enables    me   to  do   so, 
what  is  the  true  life  and  strength  of  our  Society ; 
and  the  manner  in  which  its  principles,  as  actually 
embodied    in     its    practice,    its     organization,    and, 
above    all,    its    manner   of   worship,   are    fitted    to 
meet  the  special   needs  of  an    important    class    in 
our  own  day. 

Mount  Pleasant, 

West  Malvern,   1890. 


QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The  actual  organization  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
is,  I  believe,  by  no  means  familiarly  known  outside 
its  ov/n  borders,  and  a  slight  sketch  of  it  may  be 
neither  uninteresting  in  itself,  nor  out  of  place  as 
a  preliminary  to  the  endeavour  to  explain  our 
general  position.  I  propose,  therefore,  to  give  such 
an  outline  of  our  constitution  as  a  Society,  so  far 
as  I  have  become  acquainted  with  it.  The  fullest 
details  respecting  it  are  to  be  found  in  the  "  Book 
of  Discipline,"  which  is  the  authorized  exponent  of 
all  such  matters. 

This  book  has  been  recently  revised,  and  the 
edition  of  1883*  (a  large  octavo  volume)  contains 
the    latest   regulations    on    all    points    of   internal 

*  "  Book  of  Christian  Discipline  of  the  Religious  Society  of 
Friends  in  Great  Britain ;  consisting  of  Extracts  on  Doctrine, 
Practice,  and  Church  Government,  from  the  Epistles  and  other 
Documents  issued  under  the  sanction  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  held  in 
London  from  its  first  institution  in  1672  to  1883."  London* 
Samuel  Harris  and  Co.,  5,  Bishopsgate  Street  Without.     1883. 


ORGANIZA  TION.  7 

government.  The  Yearly  Meeting  also  publishes 
annually  a  volume  of  Extracts  from  its  proceed- 
ings, a  full  statement  of  accounts  and  statistics, 
and  a  summary  of  the  reports  received  from  the 
subordinate  meetings  all  over  the  country. 

Every  "  particular  meeting,"  that  is,  every  con- 
gregation meeting  habitually  for  worship  on  the 
first  (and  generally  also  on  one  other)  day  of  the 
week,  is  one  of  a  group  of  meetings  for  worship 
(usually  about  five  or  six),  which  meet  together 
once  a  month,  for  the  transaction  of  business  and 
of  discipline,  and  which  together  form  what  is 
therefore  called  a  Monthly  Meeting.  Each  Monthly 
Meeting,  again,  is  one  of  a  group  of  probably  four 
or  five  Monthly  Meetings,  which  in  like  manner 
unite  to  form  a  Quarterly  Meeting,  at  whose 
quarterly  sittings  matters  of  larger  importance  are 
considered,  and  the  eighteen  Quarterly  Meetings 
of  Great  Britain  form  in  their  turn  the  London 
Yearly  Meeting,  which  is  the  supreme  authority  in 
the  Society.  It  may  in  a  certain  sense  be  said, 
indeed,  that  it  is  the  Society  of  Friends  of  Great 
Britain,  for  every  Friend  is  a  member  of  the 
Monthly,  Quarterly,  and  Yearly  Meetings  to  which 
he  or  she  belongs,  and  is  entitled  to  a  voice  in  all 
their  deliberations.  The  Yearly  Meeting  .assembles 
in    May,  and  its  sittings,  which   are  held,  as   they 


8  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

have  been  from  the  first,  in  Devonshire  House, 
Bishopsgate  Street,  last  generally  about  a  fort- 
night. The  actual  attendance  is,  of  course,  small 
in  comparison  with  the  number  of  members.  At 
the  present  time  the  Society  in  Great  Britain 
consists  of  about  fifteen  thousand  members,  and 
the  annual  gatherings  in  Bishopsgate  Street  num- 
ber perhaps  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred. 

The  men  and  women  sit  separately,  or  it  would 
perhaps  be  more  correct  to  say  that  the  men  and 
the  women'  Friends  have  each  a  separate  Yearly 
Meeting;  the  women's  Yearly  Meeting  being  of 
considerably  later  date  than  the  men's.  It  was 
established  in  1790,  and  it  deals  in  general  with 
matters  of  less  importance,  or  at  any  rate  of  more 
restricted  scope,  than  the  men's  meeting.  It  is, 
however,  not  unusual  for  men  Friends,  "  under 
religious  concern,"  to  visit  the  women's  meeting, 
nor  for  women  Friends  on  a  similar  ground  to  visit 
that  of  the  men. 

"  Joint  sittings  " — meetings,  that  is,  of  men  and 
women  Friends  in  one  body — are  also  held  oc- 
casionally, when  any  question  of  special  interest 
to  all  the  members  is  to  be  considered,  and  on 
these  occasions  the  women  are  free  to  take  their 
full  share  in  the  discussions.  These  occasional 
combinations   are  the  more  easily  practicable,  be- 


ORGANIZATION.  9 

cause,  strange  as   it  may  seem   to  most  people,  no 
question  is  ever  put  to  the  vote.     From  the  earliest 
times,    all     decisions     have    been     arrived     at    by 
what   may  be    called  a  practical    unanimity.     The 
Yearly    Meeting,    like     every    other     meeting    for 
"  busi.iess  "  or  "  discipline,"  has  its  clerk,  who,  with 
one    or    more    assistants,    performs    the    combined 
functions   of  chairman  and  secretary.     When  any 
question  has  been  fully  considered,  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  clerk  to  interpret  the  sense  of  the  meeting, 
and  to  prepare  a  minute  accordingly  ;  which  minute, 
being  read  to  the  meeting,  often  receives  a  certain 
amount  of  verbal,  or  even  of  substantial  modifica- 
tion, in  accordance  with  the  suggestions  of  individual 
Friends;    but,    when  entered    upon  the   books,    is 
accepted   as  embodying  the  decision   of  the  meet- 
ing.    Should    there   be    any   considerable    division 
of  judgment    upon    any  important    question,  it    is 
usually,  if  possible,  adjourned  till  the  next  Yearly 
Meeting  ;   and  this  plan  has,  I  believe,  been  almost 
invariably    found     sufficient    to    bring    about    the 
practical   unanimity  required  for  a  final   settlement 
of  the   question.     It  is  certainly  a  very  remarkable 
fact   that  so    large  a  body  should   transact  all    its 
affairs  without  ever  voting,  to   the  full    satisfaction 
of  the  great  majority  of  those  concerned. 

The    Quarterly    and    Monthly  Meetings   are,  in 


lo  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

most  respects,  repetitions  on  a  smaller  scale  of 
the  Yearly  Meeting.  The  business  of  all  these 
subordinate  meetings  is  transacted,  like  that  of 
the  Yearly  Meeting,  without  voting,  and  settled 
similarly  through  the  action  of  the  clerk  when  a 
practical  unanimity  is  arrived  at.  Each  Monthly 
Meeting  appoints  "  representatives "  to  the  next 
Quarterly  Meeting,  and  the  Quarterly  Meetings  in 
like  manner  appoint  "  representatives  "  to  the  Yearly 
Meeting.  These  Friends  have  no  very  definite 
function  to  perform,  but  their  names  are  called 
over,  and  their  presence  or  absence  noted  at  the 
opening  of  each  meeting  to  which  they  are  sent; 
and  they  are  expected  to  serve  in  a  general  way 
as  a  special  medium  of  communication  between  the 
larger  and  the  smaller  meetings  to  which  they  belong. 
In  like  manner,  upon  any  subject  affecting  the 
Society  at  large,  the  Yearly  Meeting  communicates 
with  the  Quarterly  Meetings,  who  in  their  turn 
diffuse  the  impulse  through  their  own  Monthly  and 
particular  meetings,  till  it  reaches  every  individual 
member ;  and,  in  return,  information  respecting 
every  meeting  for  worship  is  from  time  to  time  given 
to  the  Monthly  Meetings,  to  be  by  them  in  a  con- 
densed form  reported  to  the  Quarterly  Meetings, 
and  so  eventually  presented  to  the  Yearly  Meeting 
in   London.     All  these  ascending  and  descending 


ORGANIZA  TION.  \  \ 

processes  are  carried  on  with  minute  accuracy  and 
regularity,  and  are  duly  recorded  at  every  stage  in 
the  books  of  each  meeting.  There  is  thus  a  com- 
plete system  of  circulation,  as  of  veins  and  arteries, 
by  which  e\ery  individual  member  is  brought 
within  reach  of  the  Society  at  large,  and  through 
which  information,  influence,  and  discipline  are 
carried  to  and  from  the  centre  and  the  extremities. 
The  "discipline"  of  the  Society  is  a  matter  of 
extreme  interest,  as  to  which  I  cannot  venture  to 
say  with  any  confidence  how  far  our  recognized 
ideal  is  actually  carried  out  in  practice.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  of  late  years  considerable  changes 
have  taken  place,  mainly  in  the  direction  of  a 
relaxation  of  discipline  with  regard  to  compara- 
tively trivial  matters.  Certain  "queries"  have 
from  the  earliest  times  been  appointed  by  the 
authority  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  to  be  read  and 
considered  at  certain  seasons  in  the  subordinate 
meetings,  and  to  most  of  these  queries  (some 
relating  to  various  branches  of  Christian  morality, 
and  some  to  regularity  in  attendance  at  meetings 
and  conformity  to  established  standards  of  sim- 
plicity in  dress  and  language)  it  was  formerly  the 
practice  to  require  detailed  answers  from  each 
particular  meeting,  to  be  in  due  course  tran'^-r.itted 
in  a  summarized  form  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  itself. 


12  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

In  1 86 1 ,  however,  the  Yearly  Meeting  issued  direc- 
tions that  a  certain  number  of  these  queries  should 
be  merely  "considered,"  but  not  answered.  In 
1875  this  method  was  adopted  with  regard  to 
nearly  all  the  queries,  and  at  present  those  only 
which  relate  to  the  regularity  of  attendance  at 
meetings  for  worship  and  business  are  answered.* 
This  change  has  a  very  obvious  significance,  and 
I  believe  that  its  effect  is  even  more  marked  than 
would  be  understood  by  any  one  not  accustomed 
to  the  extreme  care  and  gravity  with  which  these 
matters  were  formerly  pondered  and  reported  upon 
in  each  "preparative  meeting"  {i.e.  each  particular 
meeting  sitting  specially  with  a  view  to  preparing 
the  business  to  be  transacted  at  any  approaching 
Monthly  Meeting),  and  again  at  each  stage  of  the 
progress  of  the  report  towards  its  final  presenta- 
tion by  the  Quarterly  to  the  Yearly  Meeting. 
Dress  and  language  and  other  external  matters 
are  now  practically  left  entirely  to  the  individual 
conscience,  as  is  surely  wisest.  With  regard  to 
weightier  matters,  such  as  strict  integrity  in  busi- 
ness, sobriety,  and  correctness  of  moral  conduct, 
etc.,  there  is  still,  I  hope  and  believe,  a  consider- 
able   reality    of   watchful    care    exercised    through 

*  The   queries  now  in    use   are  given  at  length  in   the  Appendix, 
Note  A. 


ORGANTZATTON.  13 

specially  appointed  members.  In  every  Monthly 
Meeting  there  are  Friends  holding  the  offices  of 
elder  and  overseer.  The  business  of  the  elders 
is  to  watch  over  the  ministers  in  the  exercise  of 
their  gift ;  that  of  the  overseers  to  see  to  the  relief 
of  the  poorer  members,  the  care  of  the  sick,  and 
other  such  matters ;  to  watch  over  the  members 
generally  with  regard  to  their  Christian  conduct, 
to  warn  privately  any  who  may  be  giving  cause  of 
offence  or  scandal,  and  in  case  of  need  to  bring 
the  matter  before  the  Monthly  Meeting,  to  be 
dealt  with  as  it  may  require.  Should  the  Monthly 
Meeting  think  it  necessaiy  to  disown  a  member 
for  persisting  in  conduct  not  consistent  with  our 
Christian  profession,  or  for  any  other  reason,  the 
member  in  question  may  appeal  to  the  Quarterly 
Meeting,  and  from  its  decision  to  that  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  which  is  in  all  cases  final. 

The  London  Yearly  Meeting  has  two  standing 
committees  for  the  transaction  of  such  of  its  affairs 
as  need  attention  more  frequently  than  once  a 
year.  One  of  these  represents  the  Yearly  Meeting 
at  large,  and  has  charge  of  its  money  matters  and 
other  general  business ;  it  bears  the  curious  and 
suggestive  title  of  the  "  Meeting  for  Sufferings," 
from  havmg  been  originally  occupied  mainly  in 
relieving  Friends  under  persecution.    The  other  is  a 


14  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

committee  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  on  Ministry  and 
Oversight,  and  is  called  the  "  Morning  Meeting." 

Meetings  on  Ministry  and  Oversight  are  held  in 
every  Quarterly  and  Monthly  Meeting  as  well  as 
at  the  Yearly  Meeting.  They  are  composed  of  all 
the  recorded  ministers,  the  elders  and  overseers  of 
each  meeting,  together  with  (in  some  Quarterly 
Meetings)  some  Friends  described  as  associate 
members,  who  attend  them  as  it  were  not  officially, 
but  by  a  standing  invitation.  These  meetings  are 
concerned,  of  course,  with  questions  relating  to  the 
special  offices  exercised  by  their  members. 

The   ministers    are,  as    is  well    known,   not  ap- 
pointed   or   set   apart   by   any  human    ordination, 
nor    are   any  of  them   ever  paid,  or  liable  to   be 
called    upon    by    any    human    authority,    for    any 
ministerial  services.     By  the  word  "ministers"  we 
mean  simply  those,  be  they  men   or   women,  who 
have   received    a    gift   and    call    to    minister,   that 
is  to   offer  vocal   service,  in  meetings  for  worship. 
When  any  Friend  has  exercised  such  a  gift  for  a 
considerable   time,  in    a   manner   which    is   recog- 
nized   by  the    other   members  as  evincing  a   true 
vocation,  the  Monthly  Meeting  proceeds  to  record 
the    fact    on    the   books    of    the    meeting.      This 
acknowledgment   is   made   merely  for  the  sake  of 
"good  order,"  and  is  not  supposed  to  confer  any 


ORGANIZATION.  15 

additional  power  or  authority  on  the  minister 
"  recorded."  The  ministers  are  perfectly  free  to 
continue  their  ordinary  occupations,  and  many  of 
them  are,  in  fact,  engaged  in  earning  their  own 
living  in  trades,  business,  or  professions. 

When  a  minister,  in  the  exercise  of  his  or  her 
gift,  feels   called  to   travel  to  any  distant  place,  it 
is  thought  riiiht  that  the  "concern"  should  be  laid 
before  the  Monthly  Meeting,  and,  should  it  be  an 
important  or  distant  concern,  before  the  Quarterly 
and,  in  some  cases,  even  the  Yearly  Meeting  also; 
when    the   meetings    in  question  will,   if  they  feel 
"unity"    with    it,  give    the    minister    a  minute    or 
certificate  to  that  effect,  which  serves  as  an  intro- 
duction and  guarantee  in   whatever   meetings   the 
minister  may  visit  during  that  "  service."     In  such 
cases   the   ministers'  travelling   expenses  are   paid 
from  one  Monthly  or  Quarterly  Meeting  to  another, 
and  it  is  usual  for  them  to  be  welcomed  into  the 
houses  of  some  of  the  Friends   belonging  to  the 
meetings  visited.     The  extent  to  which  Friends  do 
thus  travel,  both   in   England  and  abroad,  "in  the 
service    of   Truth,"    is    something    of    which    few 
people    outside    the    Society  have    any  idea.      Be- 
tween England  and  America  there  is  a  continual 
interchange    of  such  visits,  and    the  vciy   copious 
biographical   literature  of  the   Society  teems   with 


i6  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

the  records  of  journeys  undertaken  "under  an 
impression  of  religious  duty,"  and  lasting  some- 
times for  months,  or  even  years,  before  the  Friend 
could  "feel  clear"  of  the  work.  No  limit  is  ever 
set  beforehand  to  such  work.  It  is  felt  to  be  work 
in  which  the  daily  unfolding  of  the  Divine  ordering 
must  be  watched  and  waited  for. 

Such  is  a  general  outline  of  what  may  be  called 
the  machinery  of  the  Society.  It  remains  to  state 
briefly  its  distinguishing  tenets  before  proceeding 
to  consider  the  spirit  and  inner  spring  from  which 
these  outward  developments  have  arisen,  and  from 
which  they  derive  all  their  significance  and  value. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  peculiarity  which 
lies  at  the  root  of  all  the  rest ;   namely,  our  views 
as    to  the  nature  of  the  true  gospel  ministry,  as 
a  call  bestowed  on  men  and  women,  on  old  and 
young,  learned  and  unlearned;    bestowed   directly 
from  above,  and  not  to  be  conferred  by  any  human 
authority,   or    hired    for    money;    to    be    exercised 
under  the  sole  and  immediate  direction  of  the  one 
Master,  the  only  Head  of  the  Church,  Christ  the 
Lord.     As    a    consequence    of  this    view.  Friends 
have,  as  is  well  known,  refused  as  a  matter  of  con- 
^    science  to  pay  tithes,  or  in  any  way  to  contribute 
to  the  maintenance  of  a  paid  ministry,  and  of  the 
services  prescribed  by  the  Established  Church. 


ORGANIZATION.  ,7 

Closely  connected  with  these  views  on  ministry, 
is   our  testimony    against    the   observance    of  any 
religious    rites    or    ceremonies    whatever.     Neither 
baptizing  with  water,  nor  the  breaking  of  bread  and 
drinking  of  wine,  are  recognized  by  us  as  Divinely 
ordained  institutions  of  permanent  obligation,  and 
neither   of    these    ceremonies    is   practised   by    us. 
We  believe  that  the  coming  of  Christ  put  an  end 
to    the    old   dispensation  of   outward  observances, 
and  that  the  whole  drift  of  His  teaching  was  against 
the  attaching  of  importance  to  such  things.     The 
passages    relating    to    His    last    supper   with    His 
disciples,  and  those  in  which   He  speaks    of  His 
permanent  influence  upon  them  under  the  images 
of  bread,  blood,  etc.,  seem  to  us  much  more  intel- 
ligible and  impressive  when   understood    without 
reference  to  the  sacramental  theories  which    have 
been    engrafted    upon    them.       The    one    baptism 
"with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire,"  and  the  con- 
tinual spiritual  communion  to  be  enjoyed  in  feed- 
ing on  the  bread  of  life,  are  felt  by  us  to  be  of  the 
very  essence  of  true  and  spiritual  worship ;  but  we 
believe   them  to  be  entirely  independent    of  any 
outward  observances.      We  therefore  feel  that  no 
other  condition  is  needed  for  the  highest   acts  of 
worship  than  the  presence  and  the  right  spiritual 
disposition  of  the  worshippers. 


i8  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

The  rejection  of  any  separate  priesthood,  and  of 
all  outward  observances,  is  the  main  divergence 
between  us  and  other  Christians.  We  have  always 
maintained  a  testimony  against  war  as  inconsistent 
with  the  full  acceptance  of  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and 
against  oaths  as  distinctly  forbidden  by  Him,  We 
have  also  been  led  to  abandon  the  pursuit  of 
changing  fashions,  and  to  cherish  a  plainness  in 
dress  and  language  of  a  marked  character,  now 
fast  changing  its  type,  but  not,  we  trust,  really  dis- 
appearing. These  minor  testimonies  are  probably 
more  widely  known  than  the  more  fundamental 
ones;  and  though  concerned  with  comparatively 
trivial  matters,  they  also  spring  from  a  deep  root 
of  principle.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  from 
time  to  time  religious  bodies  have  sprung  up  in 
various  parts  of  the  world  who,  without  any  com- 
munication with  us,  have  adopted  similar  views  on 
many,  if  not  all,  of  these  points.  This  fact,  as  well 
as  the  continuance  and  the  widely  spread  influence 
of  our  own  Society,  seems  to  show  that  its  roots 
lie  deep  in  some  fundamental  principles  of  truth. 

I  am  now  about  to  attempt  to  deal  with  those 
principles,  not  in  the  way  of  analysis  or  with  any 
attempt  at  precision  of  language,  but  as  a  record 
of  their  practical  working,  as  gathered  mainly  from 
personal,  experience.     It  is  not,  I  confess,  without 


ORGAXIZA  TION.  19 

some  anxiety  that  I,  as  a  new-comer,  enter  upon 
this  task.  In  the  preceding  sketch  of  matters  of 
fact,  it  has  of  course  been  easy  to  guard  against 
any  serious  misstatements ;  but  in  the  following 
chapters  I  must  deal  with  matters  less  easily  veri- 
fiable. It  seems  to  me  in  some  respects  hardly 
possible  that  any  one  not  born  and  bred  in  the 
Society  should  be  fully  qualified  to  unfold  its 
principles  and  practices.  There  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  the  very  fact  of  having  entered  it  from 
without,  a  special  qualification  for  the  office  of 
interpreting  them  to  outsiders.  It  will,  I  hope,  be 
remembered  that  I  have  no  kind  of  claim  to  speak 
in  any  sense  in  the  name  of  the  Society.  My 
object  is  to  explain  (so  far  as  the  experience  of 
ten  years'  membership  may  enable  me)  the  secret 
of  its  strength  and  of  its  attraction  for  others  ;  and 
for  this  attempt  one  brought  up  outside  its  pale, 
and  speaking  in  a  purely  individual  capacity,  may 
well  feel  a  special  freedom.  If  I  cannot  pretend 
to  possess  the  entirely  correct  accent  of  a  born 
Friend,  I  may  be  none  the  less  intelligible  to  those 
amongst  whom  my  own  Christian  prixiciples  were 
imbibed  and  nourished  until  the  years  of  maturity. 


20  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  INNER  LIGHT. 

The  one  corner-stone  of  belief  upon  which  the 
Society  of  Friends  is  built  is  the  conviction  that 
God  does  indeed  communicate  with  each  one  of 
the  spirits  He  has  made,  in  a  direct  and  living 
inbreathing  of  some  measure  of  the  breath  of  His 
own  life ;  that  He  never  leaves  Himself  without  a 
witness  in  the  heart  as  well  as  in  the  surroundings 
of  man  ;  and  that  in  order  clearly  to  hear  the 
Divine  voice  thus  speaking  to  us  we  need  to  be 
still;  to  be  alone  with  Him  in  the  secret  place  of 
His  presence ;  that  all  flesh  should  keep  silence 
before  Him. 

This  belief  may  be  more  precisely  stated,  ex- 
plained, and  as  we  think  justified,  by  those  who 
are  competent  to  deal  with  it  in  a  philosophical 
manner.  The  founders  of  our  Society  were  not 
philosophers,  but  spoke  of  these  things  from  an 
intense  and  abundant  personal  experience,  which 
led  them  with  confidence  to  appeal  to  the  experi- 


THE  INNER  LIGHT.  21 

ence  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  o{  men  for  ccn- 
firmation  of  their  doctrine  as  to  the  light  within. 
And  they  were  not  disappointed.  The  history  of 
the  sudden  gathering  of  the  Society,  of  its  rapid 
formation  into  a  strongly  organized  body,  and  of 
the  extraordinary  constancy,  zeal,  and  integrity 
displayed  by  its  original  members,  is  a  most  im- 
pressive proof  of  the  trueness  of  their  aim.* 

I  have  no  ambition  to  clothe  the  fundamental 
doctrine  of  our  Society  in  any  less  popular  lan- 
guage than  that  in  which  it  was  originally  preached. 
I  would  rather,  even  did  necessity  not  compel  me, 
be  content  to  appeal,  as  did  the  early  Friends,  to 
common  experience.  My  aim  is  to  explain  for 
practical  purposes,  and  in  modern  as  well  as 
simple  language,  the  way  in  which  our  whole  con- 
stitution as  a  Society,  and  our  various  special 
testimonies,    have    resulted     from    this    one    main 

principle. 

When   questioned   as   to  the   reality  and   nature 
of  the  inner   light,  the   early  Friends  were  accus- 

*  It  is  estimated  that  in  i63o  (or  thirty-two  years  from  the 
beginning  of  George  Fox's  ministry)  tlie  number  of  Friends  was 
about  40.000.  "  In  1656  Fox  computed  that  there  were  seldom 
less  than  1000  in  prison  ;  and  it  has  been  asserted  that,  between 
1661  and  1697,  13,562  Quakers  were  imprisoned,  152  were  trans- 
ported, and  338  died  in  prison  or  of  their  wounds "  ("  Encycl. 
Brit.,"  9th  edit.,  art.  "  Quakers  "). 


zi  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

tomed  ill  return  to  ask  the  questioners  whether 
they  did  not  sometimes  feel  something  within 
them  that  showed  them  their  sins ;  and  to  assure 
them  that  this  same  power,  which  made  manifest, 
and  therefore  was  truly  light,  would  also,  if 
yielded  to,  lead  them  out  of  sin.  This  assur- 
ance, that  the  light  which  revealed  was  also  the 
power  which  would  heal  sin,  was  George  Fox's 
gospel.  The  power  itself  was  described  by  him  in 
many  ways.  Christ  within,  the  hope  of  glory; 
the  light,  life,  Spirit,  and  grace  of  Christ ;  the 
seed,  the  new  birth,  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion, and  many  other  such  expressions,  flow  forth 
in  abundant  streams  of  heartfelt  eloquence.  To 
"turn  people  to  the  light  within,"  to  "  direct  them 
to  Christ,  their  free  Teacher,"  was  his  daily 
business. 

For  this  purpose  he  and  his  friends  travelled 
continually  up  and  down  the  country,  holding 
meetings  everywhere,  and  finding  a  never-failing 
response  to  their  appeal,  as  is  proved  by  the  bare 
numbers  of  those  who,  within  a  very  few  years, 
were  ready  to  encounter  persecution,  and  to  main- 
tain their  testimony  through  long  years  of  im- 
prisonment and  sufferings.  In  the  earlier  days  of 
the  Society  the  doctrine  of  the  inner  light  was 
clearly   one   readily  understood   and    accepted   by 


THE  INXER  LIGHT.  23 

the  ordinary  English  mind.  In  our  own  day  it  is 
usually  spoken  of  as  a  mysterious  tenet,  springing 
up  now  and  again  in  the  minds  of  isolated  enthu- 
siasts, but  indigenous  only  in  Oriental  countries, 
and  naturally  abhorrent  to  the  practical  common 
sense  of  our  own  people. 

The  difference  arises,  I  think,  from  the  fact  that 
there  are  circles  within  circles,  or  spheres  within 
spheres,  and  that  the  light  to  which  the  early 
Friends  bore  witness  was  not  confined  to  that 
innermost  sanctuary  of  whose  very  existence,  per- 
haps, none  but  a  few  "mystics"  are  conscious; 
but  that,  while  proceeding  from  those  deepest 
depths,  it  was  recognized  as  also  lighting  up  con- 
science, and  conduct,  and  all  the  tangible  outer 
framework  of  life ;  and  that  it  was  called  *'  within  " 
not  alone  in  the  sense  of  lying  nearer  the  centre 
of  our  being  than  anything  else,  but  also  in  the 
(to  ordinary  minds)  more  intelligible  sense  of 
beginning  at  home — of  being  the  reward  of  each 
man's  own  faithfulness,  of  being  independent  of 
priests  and  ordinances.  The  religion  they  preached 
was  one  which  enforced  the  individual  responsi- 
bility of  each  one  for  his  own  soul ;  it  was  a 
portable  and  verifiable  religion — a  religion  which 
required  truth  in  word  and  deed,  plain  dealing 
and  kindness  and  self-control,  and  which  did  not 


24  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

require  ceremonial  observances  or  priestly  guaran- 
tees ;  a  religion  in  which  practice  went  for  more 
than  theory,  and  all  were  expected  to  take  their 
stand  on  one  level,  and  their  share  in  the  worship 
and  the  business  of  "  the  Church."  It  is  easy  to 
see  how  such  preaching  as  this  would  commend 
itself  to  English  independence.  It  surely  com- 
mends itself  to  the  unchanging  sense  of  truth  in 
the  human  heart,  and  will  be  welcomed  whenever  it 
is  preached  from  first-hand  experience  of  its  power. 

"  That  which  you  seek  without  you  have  already 
within  you."  The  words  which  changed  the  life  of 
Madame  Guyon  will  never  lose  their  power  while 
human  nature  is  occupied  with  the  struggle  for  a 
state  of  stable  equilibrium.  The  perennial  justifi- 
cation of  Quakerism  lies  in  its  energetic  assertion 
that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  us ;  that  we 
are  not  made  dependent  upon  any  outward  organi- 
zation for  our  spiritual  welfare.  Its  perennial  diffi- 
culty lies  in  the  inveterate  disposition  of  human 
beings  to  look  to  each  other  for  spiritual  help,  in 
the  feebleness  of  their  perception  of  that  Divine 
Voice  which  speaks  to  each  one  in  a  language  no 
other  ear  can  hear,  and  in  the  apathy  which  is 
content  to  go  through  life  without  the  attempt  at 
any  true  individual  communion  with  God. 

"The  kingdom   of  heaven    is    within   us."     No 


THE  INNER  LIGHT.  25 

Christian,  surely,  can  dispute  the  truth  of  this  deep 
word  of  Christ  Himself  But  its  interpretation  has 
a  wide  range.  In  his  own  lips  it  was  used  in 
opposition  to  the  "  Lo  here!  and  lo  there!"  for 
which  he  was  preparing  His  disciples.  They 
were  not  to  be  hurried  away  into  a  search  for 
Christ  in  all  directions,  but  were  to  remember  that 
His  kingdom  (surely  implying  His  living  presence) 
is  in  the  hearts  of  His  people.  He  Himself  makes 
none  of  those  abstruse  distinctions  between  con- 
sciousness and  being,  accident  and  essence,  subject 
and  object,  or  ev^en  superficial  and  profound,  and 
so  forth,  which  it  has  been  the  delight  of  many 
of  His  most  devoted  followers  to  interweave  with 
this  simple  expression  "within  you." 

I  think  it  is  inevitable  that  the  more  deeply  we 
penetrate  into  the  recesses  of  the  human  mind,  the 
more  we  should  have  a  sense  of  approaching  an 
inner  sanctuary,  and  that  there  is  a  very  real  and 
deep  sense  in  which  this  word  "within  you"  may 
be  understood  as  meaning  "above  all  in  your 
inmost  depths."  But  this  is  not  its  original  or  its 
obvious  meaning.  In  the  teaching  of  our  Lord  there 
is  a  frequent  reference  to  the  distinction  of  inward 
or  outward,  but  the  distinction  is  drawn  in  a  broad 
and  simple  manner.  It  is  oftenest  a  demand  upon 
our    sincerity   and    thoroughness,    not    upon    our 


26  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

powers  of  introspection — an  appeal  on  behalf  of 
the  weightier  matters  of  the  Law  as  compared  with 
trivial  and  ceremonial  observances.  It  would 
scarcely,  I  think,  be  true  to  say  that  the  doctrine 
of  an  "inner  light,"  as  we  understand  it,  is  ex- 
plicitly laid  down  in  the  Gospels,  although,  to  my 
own  mind,  that  doctrine  appears  to  be  an  almost 
inevitable  inference  from  their  teaching.  I  am 
not,  however,  attempting  to  deal  with  the  question 
on  its  merits.  I  only  wish  to  draw  attention  to  the 
wide  range  of  meaning  covered  by  such  expres- 
sions as  "the  light  within,"  and  "the  inner  light." 

Both  by  our  Master  Himself,  and  by  the  Friends 
who  originally  preached  Him  as  the  Light,  the 
figure  of  light  was  used  in  a  broad  and  popular 
sense.  Light  is  the  most  obvious  and  the  most 
eternally  satisfying  figure  for  Divine  truth.  It  is, 
however,  hardly  more  obvious  or  more  satisfying 
than  the  other  figure  so  commonly,  and  almost 
interchangeably,  used  by  the  same  teachers,  of 
breath — inspiration.  I  scarcely  know  whether  it 
would  convey  most  truth  to  say  that  the  corner- 
stone of  our  Society  was  a  belief  in  "the  light 
within,"  or  in  "immediate  inspiration."  I  doubt 
whether  the  two  ideas  are  in  all  respects  altogether 
distinguishable.  Belief  in  the  fact  to  which  they 
both    refer,    of    an    actual    Divine    influence    com- 


THE  INNER   LIGHT.  27 

municated  to  every  human  spirit,  is  our  real  corner- 
stone.* 

The  fact  of  inspiration  is  denied  by  no  Christian 
—the  full  recognition  of  its  present  and  constant 
operation  is  in  some  degree  a  peculiarity  of  Friends. 
It    is    not  uncommon  outside  the  Society  to  hear 
expressions    implying  that  Divine  inspiration  is  a 
thing  of  the  past;  a  quite  exceptional  gift,  familiar 
only  in  apostolic  times.     It  seems  to  me  that  this 
limitation  of  its  range  amounts  almost  to  a  denial 
of  its    reality.     I  can  hardly  understand   the  idea 
that    God    did    occasionally   long    ago    speak    to 
human    beings,  but  that    He  never  does  so    now. 
It  seems,  at  any  rate,  inconsistent  with  any  worthy 
sense  of  His  unchangeableness. 

Many  of  us  have  come  to  believe  that  one  of  the 

*  I  may.  perhaps,  here  be  allowed  to  point  out  the  ambiguity  of 
the    expression   "immediate   inspiration."     The  word  "immediate" 
may  be  understood  to  mean  direct,  and  in  this  sense  it  is.  I  thmk. 
superfluous;  for  it  is  surely  impossible  to  conceive  of  inspiration  as 
indirect,  although  revelation  may  easily  be  so.     But  it  may  also,  m 
reference  to  any  particular   thought  communicated,  be  understood 
as  meaning  "instantaneous;"    and   in   this  sense  a  special  impor- 
tance has  been  attached  to  it  by  some  Friends,  which  is,  I  believe, 
deprecated  by  others,  as   restricting  "ministry"  to  the  utterance  of 
words  believed  to  be  at  the  moment  given  for  utterance,  under  what 
is  called  a  "fresh    anointing"    from    above.     I    would,  therefore, 
rather   avoid    at    present    the    use    of  the    expression    "immediate 
inspiration."    when  speaking  of  our  belief   that  there  is   in  every 
heart  a  witness  for  the  truth,  which  is,  so  to  speak,  radiated  from 
the  central  truth.    The  "  light  "  seems,  on  the  whole,  to  be  the  figure 
leasu  open  to  any  possible  misinterpretation. 


28  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

greatest  hindrances  to  a  real  belief  in  or  recogni- 
tion of  inspiration  has  been  the  exceedingly  crude 
and  mechanical  conception  of  it  as  attributed  to 
the  letter  of  Scripture.  From  this  hard  and  shallow 
way  of  thinking  about  inspiration,  Friends  have 
generally  been  preserved  in  proportion  as  they 
have  held  firmly  the  old  Quaker  doctrine  of  the 
inner  light.  Some,  no  doubt,  have  gone  too  far 
in  the  direction  of  transferring  the  idea  of  infalli- 
bility from  the  Bible  to  themselves.  But,  on  the 
whole,  I  believe  the  doctrine  of  Fox  and  Barclay 
{i.e.,  briefly,  that  the  "Word  of  God"  is  Christ, 
not  the  Bible,  and  that  the  Scriptures  are  profit- 
able in  proportion  as  they  are  read  in  the  same 
spirit  which  gave  them  forth)  to  have  been  a  most 
valuable  equipoise  to  the  tendency  of  other  Pro- 
testant sects  to  transfer  the  idea  of  infallibility 
from  the  Church  to  the  Bible.  Nothing,  I  be- 
lieve, can  really  teach  us  the  nature  and  meaning 
of  inspiration  but  personal  experience  of  it.  That 
we  may  all  have  such  experience  if  we  will  but 
attend  to  the  Divine  influences  in  our  own  hearts, 
is  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  Quakerism.  Whether 
this  belief,  honestly  acted  on,  will  manifest  itself 
in  the  homespun  and  solid,  but  only  too  sober 
morality  of  the  typical  everyday  Quaker,  or 
whether  it  will  land  us  in  the  mystical  fervours  of 


THE  INNER  LIGHT.  29 

an  Isaac  Penington,  or  the  apostolic  labours  of  a 
John  Woolman  or  a  Stephen  Grellet,  must  depend 
chiefly  upon  our  natural  temperament  and  special 
gifts.  The  range  of  the  different  forms  taken  by 
the  doctrine  is  as  wide  as  the  range,  of  human 
endowment  and  experience.  A  belief  which  is  the 
common  property  of  the  prophet  and  the  babe  will, 
of  course,  yield  ever}^  variety  of  practical  result. 

It  is  a  behef  which  it  is  hardly  possible  to  incul- 
cate by  anything  more  or  less  than  a  direct  appeal 
to  experience,  to  the  witness  within ;  and  there  is 
the  further  difficulty,  that  the  experience  to  which 
we  can  appeal  only  as  sharers  in  it,  must  be  ex- 
pressed in  language  very  often  and  very  naturally 
misunderstood.  The  assertion,  however  guarded, 
that  one  has  actual  experience  of  Divine  inspiration 
in  one's  own  person,  is  very  apt  to  sound  like  a 
claim  to  personal  infallibility.  Yet  in  reality 
nothing  can  be  further  from  the  mark.  The  first 
effect  of  the  shining  of  light  within  is  to  show 
what  is  amiss — to  "  convince  of  sin."  It  is  not 
claiming  any  superiority  to  ordinary  human  con- 
ditions to  say,  in  response  to  such  an  appeal  as 
that  of  the  Friends  just  referred  to,  "  Yes,  I  have 
indeed  been  conscious  of  a  power  within  making 
manifest  to  me  my  sins  and  errors,  and  I  have 
indeed   experienced    its    healing  and  emancipating 


30  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

power  as  well  as  its  fiery  purgings  and  bitter 
condemnations.  That  which  has  shown  me  my 
fault  has  healed  me ;  the  light  has  led  and  is 
leading  me  onwards  and  upwards  out  of  the  abyss, 
nearer  and  nearer  to  its  own  eternal  Source  ;  and  I 
know  that,  in  so  far  as  I  am  obedient  to  it,  I  am 
safe."  What  is  such  a  reply  but  an  acknowledg- 
ment that  "  the  light,  the  Spirit,  .  and  grace  of 
Christ "  have  indeed  been  an  indwelling,  inbreath- 
ing power  in  one's  own  heart?  If  it  be  a  claim 
to  inspiration,  it  is  a  claim  which  implies  no  merit 
and  no  eminence  in  him  who  makes  it ;  it  is  made 
on  ground  common  to  the  publican,  the  prodigal, 
and  the  sinner,  to  Magdalen  and  to  Paul.  It  is 
the  history  of  every  child  returning  to  the  Father's 
house. 

But  it  is  not  every  one  to  whom  it  would  be 
natural  to  describe  this  experience  in  language  so 
mystical  as  this,  nor  would  the  mystic's  experience 
be  likely  to  stop  short  at  anything  so  simple  -and 
elementary  as  the  process  just  described.  And 
here  we  are  confronted  with  the  real  "peculiarity" 
of  Quakerism — its  relation  to  mysticism.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  George  Fox  himself  and  the  other 
fathers  of  the  Society  were  of  a  strongly  mystical 
turn  of  mind,  though  not  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
word  is  often  used  by  the  worshippers  of  "  common 


THE   INNER  LIGHT.  31 

sense,"  as  a  mild  term  of  reproach,  to  convey  a 
general  vague  dreaminess.  Nothing,  certainly,  could 
be  less  applicable  to  the  early  Friends  than  any 
such  reproach  as  this.  They  were  fiery,  dogmatic, 
pugnacious,  and  intensely  practical  and  sober- 
minded.  But  they  were  assuredly  mystics  in  what 
I  take  to  be  the  more  accurate  sense  of  that  word 
— people,  that  is,  with  a  vivid  consciousness  of  the 
inwardness  of  the  light  of  truth. 

Mysticism    in  this   sense   is   a  well-known   phe- 
nomenon,    of     which    a    multitude    of    examples 
may   be   found   in    all    religions.       It    is,    indeed, 
rather  a  personal  peculiarity  than  a  form   of  be- 
lief;   and   therefore,    although   from   time  to  time 
associations  (our    own,  for   one)  have  been  based 
upon   what    are    called    mystical  tenets,  there  can 
scarcely    be    anything  like  a  real  school  of  mys- 
ticism— at   any    rate,    in    Europe.      Mysticism,    as 
we  know  it,  is  essentially  individual.     It  refuses  to 
be  formulated  or  summed  up.     In  one  sense  it  is 
common  to  all  religious    persuasions  ;    in  another, 
it  equally  eludes  them  all.     We  can  easily  under- 
stand what  constitutes  a  mystic,  but  the  peculiarity 
itself  is  incommunicable.     Their  belief  is  an  open 
secret.      They   themselves   have   ever    desired  to 
communicate    it,    though    continually   feeling   the 
impossibility  of  doing  so  by  words  alone.     It  is 


32  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

the  secret  of  light — an  inward  hght  clothing  itsell" 
in  life,  and  living  to  bring  all  things  to  the  light. 

Mystics,  as  I  understand  the  matter,  are  those 
whose  minds,  to  their  own  consciousness,  are  lighted 
from  within ;  who  feel  themselves  to  be  in  immediate 
communication  with  the  central  Fountain  of  light 
and  life.  They  have  naturally  a  vivid  sense  both 
of  the  distinction  and  of  the  harmony  between  the 
inward  and  the  outward — a  sense  so  vivid  that  it 
is  impossible  for  them  to  believe  it  to  be  unshared 
by  others.  A  true  mystic  believes  that  all  men 
have,  as  he  himself  is  conscious  of  having,  an 
inward  life,  into  which,  as  into  a  secret  chamber, 
he  can  retreat  at  will.*  In  this  inner  chamber  he 
finds  a  refuge  from  the  ever-changing  aspects  of 
outward  existence ;  from  the  multitude  of  cares 
and  pleasures  and  agitations  which  belong  to  the 
life  of  the  senses  and  the  affections  ;  from  human 
judgments ;  from  all  change,  and  chance,  and 
turmoil,  and  distraction.  He  finds  there,  first 
repose,  then  an  awful  guidance ;  a  light  which 
burns    and   purifies ;    a   voice    which  subdues ;  he 

*  Let  me  not  be  understood  to  mean  that  the  process  of  "  keep- 
ing the  mind"  (in  Quaker  phrase)  "retired  to  the  Lord"  is  an 
easy  one.  On  the  contrary,  it  may  need  strenuous  effort.  But 
the  effort  can  be  made  at  will  and  even  the  mere  effort  thus  to 
retire  from  the  surface  to  the  depths  of  life  is  sure  to  bring  help 
and  strengthening — is  in  itself  a  strengthening,  steadying  process. 


THE  INNER  LIGHT.  33 

finds  himself  in  the  presence  of  his  God.  It  is 
here,  in  this  holy  of  holies,  that  "  deep  calleth 
unto  deep  ;  "  here  that  the  imperishable,  unfathom- 
able, unchanging  elements  of  humanity  meet  and 
are  one  with  the  Divine  Fountain  of  life  from 
whence  they  flow ;  here  that  the  well  of  living 
waters  springeth  up  unto  eternal  life. 

"  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you." 
Personal  religion  is  a  real  and  a  living  thing  only 
in  proportion  as  it  springs  from  this  deep  inward 
root.  The  root  itself  is  common  to  all  true  be- 
lievers. The  consciousness  of  its  "inwardness" 
is  that  which  distinguishes  the  mystic.  How  it 
should  be  that  to  some  minds  the  words  "  inward 
and  outward "  express  the  most  vivid  and  con- 
tinuous fact  of  consciousness,  while  to  others  they 
appear  to  have  no  meaning  at  all ;  how  it  comes 
that  some  are  born  mystics,  while  to  others  the 
report  of  the  mystic  concerning  the  inner  life  is  a 
thing  impossible  to  be  believed  and  hardly  to  be 
understood ; — these  are  psychological  problems  I 
cannot  attempt  to  unravel.  If,  however,  a  certain 
correspondence  between  the  inward  and  the  out- 
ward do  really  exist  (and  this,  I  suppose,  will 
hardly  be  denied,  whatever  may  be  the  most  philo- 
sophically accurate  way  of  expressing  it),  the  faculty 
o^  di.scerning  it  must  needs  be  a  gift.     I  believe, 


34  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

indeed,  that  the  power  in  this  direction  which  dis- 
tinguishes such  mystics  as,  i'.^.,  Thomas  a  Kempis, 
Jacob  Boehme,  Tauler,  Fenelon,  Madame  Guyon, 
George  Fox,  WilHam  Law,  St.  Theresa,  Mollnos, 
and  others,  is  essentially  the  same  gift  which  in  a 
different  form,  or  in  combination  with  a  different 
temperament  and  gifts  of  another  order,  makes 
poets.  It  is  the  gift  of  seeing  truth  at  first-hand, 
the  faculty  of  receiving  a  direct  revelation.  To 
have  it  is  to  be  assured  that  it  is  the  common 
inheritance,  the  "light  which  lighteth  every  man 
that  Cometh  into  the  world."  Preachers  like  those 
I  have  just  mentioned  always  appeal  to  it  with 
confidence  as  to  a  witness  to  be  found  in  every 
heart.  And  surely  experience  confirms  this  con- 
viction of  theirs.  It  is  in  degree  only  that  their 
gift  is  exceptional.  They  may  have  the  sight  of 
the  eagle,  but  they  see  by  the  same  light  as  the  bat. 
Now,  the  obvious  tendency  of  a  vivid  first-hand 
perception  of  truth,  or  light,  is  to  render  the 
possessor  of  it  so  far  independent  of  external 
teachers.  And  we  all  know  that  in  point  of  fact 
such  illuminati  always  have  shown  a  disposition 
to  go  their  own  way,  and  to  disregard,  if  not  to 
denounce,  traditional  teaching,  which  has  brought 
them  into  frequent  collisions  with  ecclesiastical  and 
other  authorities.     Those  of  the  Church  of  Rome 


THE   INNER    LIGHT.  35 

have,  with  their  wonted  sagacity,  as  much  as  possible 
sought  to  turn  this  strange  power  to  account,  while 
providing  safety-valves  for  the  unmanageable 
residue. 

It  is  the  easier  to  do  this  because  of  the  two 
marked  characteristics  of  mystics — quietness  and 
independence.  Mystics  are  naturally  independent, 
not  only  of  ecclesiastical  authority,  but  of  each 
other.  This  is  necessarily  implied  in  the  very  idea 
of  first-hand  reception  of  light.  While  it  must 
always  constitute  a  strong  bond  of  sympathy 
between  those  who  recognize  it  in  themselves  and 
in  each  other,  it  naturally  indisposes  them  to 
discipleship.  They  sit  habitually  at  no  man's  feet, 
and  do  not  as  a  rule  greatly  care  to  have  any  one 
sit  at  theirs.  Mysticism  in  this  sense  seems 
naturally  opposed  to  tradition.  No  true  mystic 
would  hold  himself  bound  by  the  thoughts  of 
others.  He  does  not  feel  the  need  of  them,  being 
assured  of  the  sufficiency  and  conscious  of  the 
possession  of  that  inward  guidance,  w^hether  called 
light,  or  voice,  or  inspiration,  which  must  be  seen, 
heard,  felt,  by  each  one  in  his  own  heart,  or  not  at 
all.  But  the  duty  of  looking  for  and  of  obeying 
this  guidance  is  a  principle  which  may  be  inculcated 
and  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation  like 
any    other    principle.      Its    hereditary    influence    is 


36  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

very  perceptible  in  old  Quaker  families,  where  a 
unique  type  of  Christian  character  resulting  from 
it  is  still  to  be  met  with. 

Quietness  naturally  accompanies  the  belief  in 
this  inward  guidance,  not  only  because  in  the 
Divine  presence  all  that  is  merely  human  neces- 
sarily sinks  into  silent  insignificance,  but  also 
because  it  is  instinctively  felt  that  it  is  only  in 
stillness  that  any  perfect  reflection  from  above  can 
be  formed  in  the  mirror  of  the  human  spirit.  The 
natural  fruit  of  mysticism  is  quietism. 

I  have  no  means  of  estimating  the  actual  pre- 
valence of  mystical  and  quietist  principles  in  the 
Society  of  Friends  at  the  present  time.  But  I  am 
sure  that  our  Society  is  the  natural  home  for  the 
spirits  of  all  those  who  hold  them,  for  it  is  the  one 
successful  embodiment  of  these  principles  in  a 
system  of  "  Church  government."  Every  arrange- 
ment is  made  to  favour  and  to  maintain  the 
practice  of  looking  for  individual  inward  guidance, 
and  to  give  the  freest  scope  to  its  results.  Every- 
thing which  tends  to  hinder  obedience  to  it  is 
abandoned  and  discouraged.  I  shall  endeavour  to 
trace  the  working  of  this  aim  in  various  special 
directions  hereafter.  I  must  now  endeavour  to 
explain  as  well  as  I  can  what  it  is  precisely  that 
I  understand  by  that  inward  light,  voice,  or  Divine 


THE   INNER   LIGHT.  37 

guidance  which  we  Friends  beheve  it  our  duty  and 
our  highest  privilege  in  all  things  to  watch  for. 

I  do  not,  indeed,  claim  that  my  own  share  in  this 
deepest  region  of  human  experience  amounts  to 
more  than  a  faint  and  intermittent  glimmering  of 
what  I  know  to  be  possible.  I  earnestly  desire  to 
explain  to  others  what  to  myself  has  been  especially 
blessed  and  helpful  in'  the  deepest  unfoldings, 
whether  by  word  or  in  life,  of  Quaker  principles; 
but  I  feel  that  the  task  would  demand  for  its  full 
accomplishment  not  only  greater  powers  than 
mine,  but  also  the  assistance  which  can  be  given 
only  by  something  more  than  candour  in  the  reader 
— by  a  real  desire  to  help  out  the  stammering 
utterance,  and  to  supply  the  gaps  left  by  individual 
shortcomings.  To  such  a  helpful  auditor,  therefore, 
I  will  in  imagination  address  myself. 

Faithfulness  to  the  light  is  the  watchword  of  all 
who  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness — of  all 
seekers  after  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Is  this  merely 
an  equivalent  for  the  more  commonplace  expression, 
"obedience  to  conscience"?  Surely  not.  Conscience, 
as  we  all  know,  is  liable  to  perversion,  to  morbid 
exaggerations,  to  partial  insensibility,  to  twists  and 
crotchets  of  all  sorts,  and  itself  needs  correction  by 
various  external  standards.  Conscience,  therefore, 
can    never    be    our    supreme    and    absolute    guide. 


38  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

Whether  it  can  ever  be  right  to  disobey  it,  must 
depend  on  the  precise  meaning  we  attach  to  the 
words  "conscience"  and  "right,"  and  into  this 
puzzle  I  have  no  intention  of  entering.  In  a  broad 
and  practical  sense,  we  all  know  that  if  there 
were  nothing  above  conscience,  conscience  would 
assuredly  lead  many  of  us  into  the  ditch ;  nay,  that, 
for  want  of  enlightenment  from  above,  it  actually 
has  led  many  there.  The  light  by  which  our 
consciences  must  be  enlightened,  the  light  in 
obedience  to  which  is  our  supreme  good,  must  be 
something  purer  than  this  fallible  faculty  itself. 
It  must  be  that  power  within  us,  if  any  such  power 
there  be,  which  is  one  with  all  the  wisdom,  all  the 
goodness,  all  the  order  and  harmony,  without  us ; 
one  with  "the  power,  not  ourselves,  which  makes 
for  righteousness ;  "  one  with  "  the  eternal  will 
towards  all  goodness."  It  must  be  a  power  as  all- 
pervading  and  immanent  in  the  spirit  of  man  as 
is  the  power  of  gravity  (or  whatever  yet  more 
elementary  force  gravity  may  be  resolved  into)  in 
the  outer  world  he  inhabits.  It  must  be  the  power 
in  which  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being — 
the  power  and  the  presence  of  God. 

I  do  not  attempt — idle  indeed  would  be  the 
attempt  in  such  hands  as  mine — to  contribute 
anything    towards    the    arguments    in    favour    of 


THE   INNER   LIGHT.  39 

Theism,     To    those    who    do    not    beheve    in    the 
existence  of  the  hving  God,  the  whole  subject  upon 
which  I  am  engaged  must  be  without  interest  or 
significance.     And  I  leave  it  to  others  to  reconcile, 
or  to  show  that  we  need  not  attempt  to  reconcile, 
the  existence  of  evil  with  the  omnipotence  of  God. 
The  mystery  in  which  all  our  searchings  after   a 
complete   theory    concerning   the    Author    of  our 
being  must  needs  lose  themselves  need  not  perplex, 
though  it  n^ay  overshadow,  those  practical  ques- 
tions as   to  our  own  right  attitude  towards   Him 
.with  which  alone  I  am  concerned.      I  assume  faith 
in  Him  and  allegiance  to  Him  as  the  very  ground 
under  our  feet ;  if  this  be  not  granted,  it  is  idle  to 
go  further.     My  reason  for  going  so  far  even  as  I 
have  done  in  this  direction  (the  direction,  I  mean, 
of  inquiring  into  our  fundamental  assumptions)  is 
that  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  our  Quaker  faith 
respecting  immediate  Divine    guidance  rests   upon 
a  wider  basis  of  common  conviction  than  is  usually 
supposed.     I  believe  it  to  be  the  legitimate,  though 
by  no   means    the   frequent,  result   of  any   sincere 
belief  in    God,  however   attained — not   merely  an 
outgrowth  from  one  peculiar  form  of  Christianity. 
The   coldest   and   most   cautious    Theist    can    say 
no  less  than  that  God  does  in  some  sense  direct 
the   course    of  this    world    and    of  all   that    is    in 


40  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

it.  The  most  ecstatic  mystic  can  bear  witness  to 
nothing  beyond  the  fact  that  God  does  in  deed 
and  in  truth  pervade  and  sway  the  inmost  recesses 
of  his  own  being.  Is  not  this  the  very  same  truth, 
seen  under  the  magnifying  and  amplifying  power 
of  first-hand  experience  ? 

To  me  it  seems  idle  to  attempt  to  find  any 
resting-place  between  convinced  atheism  on  the 
one  hand,  and  absolute  self-surrender  to  the  in- 
dwelling influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit  on  the 
other  ;  the  barrier,  if  there  be  any  barrier,  is  surely 
not  so  much  a  logical  as  a  moral  hindrance. 
Believing  in  God,  and  worshipping  Him  with  one's 
whole  heart,  trusting  Him  absolutely  and  loving 
Him  supremely,  seem  to  me  to  be  but  various 
stages  in  the  growth  of  one  seed.  I  know,  alas ! 
but  too  well,  that  this  growth  is  slow,  and  that  it 
meets  with  obstacles  and  checks  at  every  moment. 
I  know  that  our  faith  has  not  only  to  struggle,  but 
to  struggle  through  the  darkness,  and  that  it  ma\' 
be  challenged  at  every  step  by  difficulties  which  it 
cannot  solve.  But  I  cannot  admit  that  there  is 
any  consistency  or  reason  in  treading  the  path  of 
faith  half-way.  I  cannot  admit  that  it  is  reason- 
able to  believe  in  God  as  the  Supreme  Being,  and 
unreasonable  to  seek  His  living  presence  and  direc- 
tion in  the  minutest  details  of  our   everyday  life. 


THE  INNER   LIGHT.  41 

With  Him,  surely,  our  distinctions  of  great  and 
small  disappear,  and  "  the  darkness  is  no  darkness 
at  all."  "  Whither  shall  I  go  then  from  Thy  pre- 
sence? If  I  go  down  into  hell,  and  remain  in  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  even  there  shall  Thy 
hand  lead  me,  and  Thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me." 

But  many  will  say,  This  may  all  be  quite  true, 
but  how  are  we  to  distinguish  between  the  voice 
of  God  and  the  many  other  voices  which  distract 
our  attention  from  it  ?  How,  if  God  is  everywhere, 
does  the  practical  result  differ  from  His  being 
nowhere?  To  the  full  extent  of  my  ability  I 
recognize  this  great  difficulty.  It  seems  to  throw 
us  back  for  guidance  upon  those  very  powers 
whose  insufficiency  we  have  just  recognized.  If 
I  reply,  God  is  to  be  recognized  in  "  whatsoever 
things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  and 
lovely,  and  of  good  report,"  you  may  well  retort, 
And  how,  except  through  our  fallible  consciences, 
shall  we  discern  truth,  purity,  loveliness  ? 

I  believe  that  the  difficulty  of  distinguishing 
between  the  will,  or  the  voice,  or  the  light  of 
God,  and  the  wills  and  voices  and  lights  of  a  lower 
kind  from  which  it  is  to  be  distinguished,  is  not 
only  not  to  be  ignored,  but  that  the  very  first  ste[) 
towards  learning  the  lesson  is  to  recognize  that  it 
is  a  lesson,  and  a  hard  one — nay,  a  lifelong  dis- 


42  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

cipline.  But  just  as  the  child  trusts  instinctively, 
absolutely,  helplessly,  before  it  has  even  begun  to 
attempt  to  understand  its  parents,  so,  surely,  \vc 
may  and  must  trust  God  first  and  unreservedly, 
before  we  be^in  slowly  and  feebly,  yet  persever- 
ingly,  to  acquaint  ourselves  with  Him.  And  as 
the  trust  of  the  full-grown  son  or  daughter  is  a 
nobler  thing  than  the  trust  of  the  infant,  so  the 
experience  of  wisdom  and  prudence  has  doubtless 
a  revelation  of  its  own — a  precious  addition  to  that 
essential  revelation  which  is  made  in  the  first  place 
to  babes,  and  to  the  wise  only  in  so  far  as  they  too 
have  childlike  hearts.  To  have  our  senses  exer- 
cised to  discern  between  truth  and  falsehood,  light 
and  darkness,  order  and  disorder,  the  will  of  God 
and  the  will  of  the  flesh,  is,  I  believe,  the  end  and 
object  of  our  training  in  this  world.  There  is  no 
royal  road  to  it.  Yet  can  we  honestly  say  that  it 
is  impossible  ? 

If,  then,  it  is  only  by  a  slow  and  gradual  process 
that  we  can  rise  to  anything  like  a  true  knowledge 
(even  according  to  our  human  measure)  of  God, 
must  it  not  be  by  a  slow  and  gradual  process  alone 
that  He  can  make  His  voice  and  His  guiding 
touch  distinguishable  by  us  and  intelligible  to  us? 
Is  it  any  wonder  if  those  who  do  not  attribute  to 
Him  so  much  as  the  broad  obvious  laws  by  which 


THE  IXXER  LIGHT.  43 

we  are  all  hedged  in  from  gross  wrong-doing  and 
error,  should  fail  to  recognize  the  reality  or  the 
significance  of  those  delicate  restraining  touches 
by  which  the  spirits  which  yield  themselves  to  His 
care  are  moulded  into  some  faint  likeness  to  the 
Son  of  His  love?  Must  not  the  first  step  towards 
entering  into  the  meaning  of  that  which  is  personal 
and  individual  be  the  acceptance  of  what  is  equally 
applicable  to  all  ?  * 

That  individual  and  immediate  guidance,  in 
which  we  recognize  that  "the  finger  of  God  is 
come  unto  us,"  seems  to  come  in,  as  it  were,  to 
complete  and  perfect  the  work  rough-hewn  by 
morality  and  conscience.  W^  may  liken  the  laws 
of  our  country  to  the  cliffs  of  our  island/over  which 
we  rarely  feel  ourselves  in  any  danger  of  falling; 
the  moral  standard  of  our  social  circle  to  the 
beaten  highway  road  which  we  can  hardly  miss. 
Our  own  conscience  would  then  be  represented  by 
a  fence,  by  which  some  parts  of  the  country  are 
enclosed  for  each  one,  the  road  itself  at  times 
barred  or  narrowed.  And  that  Divine  guidance  of 
which  I  am  speaking  could  be  typified  only  by 
the  pressure  of  a  hand  upon  ours,  leading  us  gently 
to  step  to  the  right  or  the  left,  to  pause  or  to  go 

*"If  ye  have  not    been  faithful  in   that  which  is  another   man's, 
who  shall  give  you  that  which  is  your  own  ?  "  (Luke  xvi.  12). . 


44  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

forward,  in  a  manner  intended  for  and  understood 
by  ourselves  alone.* 

When  I  say  I  have  been  "  rightly  guided  "  to 
this  or  that  step,  I  mean  that,  being  well  within  the 
limits  prescribed  by  morality,  by  personal  claims, 
by  the  closest  attention  to  the  voice  of  conscience, 
I  have  yet  felt  that  there  was  still  a  choice  to  be 
made  as  between  things  equally  innocent  but  prob- 
ably not  equally  excellent — a  choice,  perhaps, 
between  different  levels  almost  infinitely  remote 
from  each  other — and  that  in  making  that  choice 
I  have  acted  under  an  impelling  or  restraining 
power  not  of  my  own  exerting.  I  generally  mean, 
further,  that  in  making  the  choice  I  have  looked,  and 

*  I  do  not,  of  course,  forget  that,  going  to  the  imperfection  of 
human  laws  and  human  faculties,  cases  may  and  do  occur  in  which 
Divine  guidance  must  lead  us  in  ways  which  run  counter  to  them. 
The  figure  used  above  is  intended  only  to  illustrate  the  general 
correspondence  between  the  map,  as  it  were,  which  can  be  laid 
down  by  the  reason  of  man,  and  that  individual  and  immediate 
guidance  which  alone  can  show  us  a  higher  and  a  narrower,  but  yet 
freer,  pathway — the  pathway  of  that  highest  service  which  is  perfect 
freedom.  When,  in  exceptional  cases,  any  contrariety  really 
emerges  between  the  human  and  the  Divine  guiding  lines,  we  may 
surely  still,  without  too  much  straining  of  our  figure,  say  that  it  is 
a  living  power  only  which  can  free  any  human  spirit  from  the  too 
narrow  fencing  in  of  a  morbid  or  unenlightened  conscience,  and 
guide  it  by  paths  running  counter  to  the  beaten  track  of  conven- 
tional morality,  or  even  in  some  rare  instances  authorize  and  enable 
and  require  it  to  overleap  even  the  cliffs  of  actual  law,  trusting  that 
in  such  cases,  as  experience  has  already  taught  us,  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  will  bt'.ll  be  the  seed  of  the  Church. 


THE  INNER  LIGHT.  45 

probably  asked,  for  light  from  above,  and  that  the 
results  of  such  choice  have  tended  to  confirm  the 
belief  that  my  action  has  been  prompted  by  One 
who  could  see  the  end  from  the  beginning,  who 
knew  things  hidden  from  myself,  and  "  understood 
my  path  long  before ;  "  in  short,  that  I  have  been 
led  as  the  blind  by  a  way  I  knew  not.  Is  not  such 
experience  as  this  witnessed  to  by  multitudes  of 
Christians,  especially  as  they  advance  in  life  ?  For 
it  may  take  long  years  of  patience  before  the  last 
pieces  are  fitted  into  the  puzzle,  so  as  to  enable  us 
to  judge  of  the  intention  of  the  whole. 

I  am  well  aware  that  I  am  speaking  of  a  region 
of  experience  in  which  there  is  abundant  room  for 
self-deception.  I  know  that  those  who,  out  of  the 
abundance  of  the  heart,  speak  very  freely  of  these 
things  with  their  lips  are  apt  not  only  to  shock 
one's  sense  of  reverence,  but  to  betray  a  deplorable 
want  of  logic  in  the  inferences  they  draw  from 
trifling  facts — facts  whose  significance  to  them- 
selves cannot  possibly  be  conveyed  to  others,  and 
may  indeed  very  likely  be  in  large  measure  fanciful 
or  even  distorted.  I  think  that  we  are  wrone 
when  we  attempt  to  found  any  sort  of  proof  or 
argument  in  favour  of  what  is  called  "  a  particular 
providence "  exclusively  upon  the  occurrences  of 
our  own    lives.     People  forget  that  what  is  most 


46  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

convincing  to  themselves,  because  it  was  within 
the  four  walls  of  their  own  experience  that  it 
happened,  is  for  that  very  reason  least  convincing 
to  others — that  is,  in  the  way  of  argument,  though 
the  impression  may,  of  course,  be  sympathetically 
shared,  and  may  rightly  have  special  weight  with 
those  who  have  reason  to  trust  the  speaker.  But, 
as  a  general  rule,  I  believe  that  reverence  and 
reason  combine  to  demand  that  the  personal  and 
intimate  dealings  of  Divine  Providence  with  each 
one  should  be  mainly  reserved  for  personal  and 
intimate  use  and  edification.  Proof  or  argument 
as  to  the  general  truth  that  God  does  guide  His 
people  individually  must  be  founded  upon  a  wider 
basis  than  is  afforded  by  any  one  person's  experi- 
ence. I  believe  that  there  are  abundant  reasons, 
of  a  far-reaching  and  deep  kind,  to  justify  each  one 
in  looking  for  the  minutest  individual  guidance. 
I  cannot,  indeed,  as  I  have  already  stated,  under- 
stand how  those  who  believe  in  a  providential 
order  at  all  can  limit  it  to  the  larger  outlines,  or, 
as  is  so  often  done  in  practice,  to  the  pleasing 
results  of  the  Divine  government.  If  we  believe, 
in  any  real  and  honest  sense,  that  the  ordering  of 
all  human  affairs  is  in  the  hands  of  one  supreme 
Ruler,  how  can  u^e  stop  short  of  believing  that  the 
minutest  trifle  affecting  any  one  of  us  is  under  the 


THE  INNER  LIGHT.  47 

same  all-pervading  care?  It  would,  I  think,  be 
as  reasonable  to  say  that  God  created  animals, 
but  left  it  to  each  one  to  develop  its  own  fur  or 
feathers.  And,  again,  if  we  attribute  our  preserva- 
tion from  danger  to  Him,  how  can  we  flinch  from 
the  parallel  belief  that  by  His  ordinance  also  we 
were  exposed  to  it;  yes,  and  in  some  cases  doomed 
to  suffer  the  worst  it  can  wreak  upon  us  "  without 
reprieve  "  ? 

Therefore  I  believe  that,  before  we  can  hope  to 
enter  into  that  intimate  and  blessed  communion 
with  God  which  transfigures  all  life,  two  great 
conditions  must  be  fulfilled.  We  must  have 
settled  it  in  our  hearts  that  everything,  from  the 
least  to  the  greatest,  is  to  be  taken  as  His  language 
— language  which  it  is  our  main  business  here  to 
learn  to  interpret — and  we  must  be  willing  to  face 
all  pain  as  His  discipline. 

I  know,  of  course,  that  these  two  conditions  can 
be  perfectl}'  fulfilled  only  as  the  result  of  much 
discipline  and  much  experience  of  the  very  guid- 
ance in  question.  But  their  roots — docility  and 
courage — are  in  some  measure  implanted  in  us 
long  before  we  begin  to  think  about  such  questions 
as  the  government  of  the  world  or  the  ordering  of 
our  lives. 

It  is,  I  believe,  in  the  last  of  these  two  demands 


48  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

of  logic,  the  demand  upon  our  courage,  tliat  the 
moral  hindrance  to  a  full  belief  in  Divine  guidance 
mainly  lies.  People  cannot  bring  themselves  to 
feel  that  the  infliction  of  pain  can  be  the  act  of 
One  whom  they  desire  to  know  as  Love.  Yet  this 
is  the  very  central  demand  of  Christianity.  What 
is  courage  but  the  willingness  to  encounter  suffer- 
ing, the  readiness  to  take  up  the  cross  ? 

In  the  strength  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  the  ever- 
lasting Son  of  the  Father,  we  can  rise  to  this 
victory  of  trust ;  we  can  meet  life  without  flinching, 
and  read  its  darkest  riddles  in  the  light  of  the 
revelation  of  Divine  love  which  He  has  won  for 
us  by  His  own  suffering  and  death.  Seen  in  that 
light,  it  is,  according  to  the  universal  testimony  of 
the  saints,  a  gentle,  though  often  most  severe, 
unfolding  of  depth  within  depth  of  heavenly 
wisdom — gentle  beyond  words  in  its  methods,  yet 
inexorable  in  its  conditions.  At  every  step  the 
fiery  baptism  must  be  encountered.  The  deep 
things  of  God  cannot  be  reached  except  through 
the  very  destruction  of  the  perishing  flesh.  It  is 
through  death  that  we  enter  into  life.  But  as 
we  do  enter  into  it,  we  can  truly  look  back  and 
say  that  His  ordering  has  been  better  than  our 
planning — that  His  thoughts  are  high  above  our 
thoughts,  as  the  heaven  is  above  the  earth. 


\ 


THE  INNER   LIGHT.  49 

Our  goal  must  be  a  heavenly  one  if  we  are  to 
judge  truly  of  His  guidance.  The  home  to  which, 
if  we  trust  Him,  He  will  assuredly  lead  us,  is  no 
earthly  home ;  but  Zion — the  heavenly  Jerusalem  ; 
the  beautiful  city  of  peace,  which  can  be  entered 
only  through  much  tribulation.  Those  who  are 
looking  for  smooth  roads  and  luxurious  resting- 
places,  may  well  say  they  perceive  no  sign  of 
guidance  at  all.  The  Divine  guidance  is  away 
from  self-indulgence,  often  away  from  outward 
success;  through  humiliation  and  failure, and  many 
snares  and  temptations ;  over  rough  roads  and 
against  opposing  forces  —  always  uphill.  Its 
evidence  of  success  is  in  the  inmost,  deepest,  most 
spiritual  part  of  our  existence.  It  is  idle  indeed 
to  talk  of  it  to  those  whose  faces  are  not  set  Zion- 
wards.  It  will  bring  them  none  of  the  results  in 
which  they  have  their  reward.  Those  who  know 
the  voice  of  the  Divine  Guide,  and  those  who  deny 
that  it  can  be  heard,  are  not  so  much  contradicting 
each  other  as  speaking  different  languages — or 
rather  speaking  in  reference  to  different  states  of 
existence. 

I  have  been  speaking  of  "  light,"  "  voice,"  "  guid- 
ance," as  almost  equivalent  and  interchangeable 
expressions  for  our  consciousness  of  the  presence  of 
God  with  us  and  in  us.     In  the  expression  "  inspira- 

E 


so  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

tion  "  we  have  further  the  symbol  of  His  power — of 
the  upbearing,  purifying,  energizing  gift  of  His  own 
Spirit.  Here  words  almost  fail ;  and  fresh  care  is 
needed,  whether  in  speaking  or  in  hearing,  as 
we  draw  near  to  those  depths  which  "  cannot  be 
uttered."  I  pause  on  the  threshold  of  the  inner 
chamber  of  the  heart,  the  holy  place  of  true 
worship. 


(    5'     ) 


CHAPTER    TIT. 
WORSHIP. 

OuK  manner  of  worsliip  is  the  natural  (as  it  seems 
to  me  even  the  inevitable)  result  of  the  full 
recognition  of  the  reality  of  Divine  inspiration — of 
the  actual  living  present  sufficient  fulness  of 
intercourse  between  the  human  spirit  and  I-Tim 
who  is  the  Father  of  spirits.  Who  that  truly 
expects  to  hear  the  voice  of  God  can  do  otherwise 
than  bow  in  silence  before  Him? 

"Devotion,"  says  Bishop  Butler  in  one  of  his 
sermons,*  "  is  retirement  from  the  world  He  has 
made,  to  Him  alone ;  it  is  to  withdraw  from  the 
avocations  of  sense,  to  yield  ourselves  up  to  the 
inpiences  of  the  Divine  presence,  and  to  give 
full  scope  to  the  affections  of  gratitude,  love, 
reverence,  trust,  and  dependence  ;  of  which  infinite 

*  Sermon  XIV.,  "  On  the  Love  of  God,"  Butlers  "  Sermons." 
p.  278  (London,  1726).  And  in  his  charge  to  the  clergy  of  Durham, 
published  with  the  "Analogy"  (London,  1802),  he  repeats  the 
words  which  I  have  printed  above  in  italics,  and  si)eaks  of  public 
worship  as  "a  time  of  devotion,  when  we  are  assembled  io  yield 
ourselves  up  to  the  full  influence  of  the  Divine  presence." 


52  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

Power,  Wisdom,  and  Goodness  is  the  natural  and 
only   Object."       No    words   could   more   fully   or 
worthily  express  the  intention  of  a  Friends'  meet- 
ing— of    one   of    those   "  meetings    for   worship  " 
which  are,  as    is    well    known,   "  held  on  a  basis 
of  silence,"   but   in  which  free  course  is  allowed 
to    whatever    Divine    influence    may    prompt    of 
vocal   prayer,  preaching,  testimony,  or  prophecy; 
those    meetings    in    which    each    one,   it    is    felt, 
should    in    the   first   place    enter   into  the   inmost 
sanctuary  of  his  own  heart,  and  be  alone  with  God; 
being  still,  that  His  voice  may  be  clearly   heard 
within,  before  the  lips  can  be  rightly  opened   to 
show  forth  His  praise  or  His  counsels  to  others. 
From  the  depths  of  that  stillness  words  do  from 
time    to    time    arise — words    uttered    in    simple 
obedience  to  the  upspringing  of  the  fountain  from 
within.     This  is  what  we  mean  by  being  "moved 
by  the  Spirit,"  and  I  do  not  see  how  a  worthier  or 
a  truer  expression  could  be  found  for  the  perfect 
ideal  of  spiritual  worship. 

That  mysterious  diversity  which  is  interwoven 
with  all  our  likeness,  and  belongs  to  the  very 
nature  common  to  us  all,  makes  it  impossible  for 
one  to  judge  for  another  as  to  the  manner  of 
worship  most  likely  to  be  vitally  helpful  to  him. 
I    cannot    tell    how    far    my    own    feeling   about 


WORSHIP.  53 

Friends'  meetings  may  arise  from  an  idiosyncrasy. 
I  do  not  pretend  to  feel,  as  did  some  of  the  early 
Friends,  that  all  pre-arrangement  is   in   itself  un- 
lawful or  sinful.     I  can  well  understand  the  point 
of  view  of  those  who  believe  that  the  majestic  and 
time-hallowed   words    of  such    a    Liturgy   as   the 
Anglican  afford  the  nearest  possible  approach  to 
a  worthy  manner   of  public  worship.     I  can  even 
understand,  though  with  less  of  sympathy,  the  feel- 
ings of  those  who  dread  lest  the  utterances  of  their 
untutored   fellow-worshippers  should   disturb  their 
own   endeavours   to   attain   to  a  devotional   frame 
of  mind.     But  though,  for  these  and  other  reasons, 
I  am  prepared  to  admit  that  the  extreme  of  sim- 
plicity and  freedom  maintained  in  our  own  meet- 
ings  might    not  prove  helpful    to  every   one,   and 
though  I  have  no  desire  to  conceal  the  too  obvious 
fact   that   we    continually    fall    very   far    short    of 
our   ideal,   I    yet   must  avow  my  own  conviction 
that  that   ideal    of  public   worship    is    the    purest 
which  has  ever  been   recognized,  and  also  that  it 
is   practically  identical  with  that  which  seems  to 
have  been   recognized  in  the  days  of  the  apostles. 
I   further   believe   that   there   are   many,  in    these 
days  especially,  to  whom  it  is  the  one  manner  of 
worship  which  is  still  practically  possible,  as  being 
absolutely    free    from    anything  entangling  to  the 


54  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

conscience,  or  open  to  controversy.  I  have 
already  *  spoken  of  the  indescribable  relief  which 
it  afforded  to  my  own  mind  at  a  time  when 
I  was  sorely  harassed  by  difficulties — common  to 
how  many  in  these  days  ! — as  to  the  sincerity  of 
appropriating  for  my  own  use  forms  which,  how- 
ever beautiful,  are  open  to  so  much  and  such 
serious  question.  What  I  felt  I  wanted  in  a  place 
of  worship  was  a  refuge,  or  at  least  the  opening  of 
a  doorway  towards  the  refuge,  from  doubts  and 
controversies — not  a  fresh  encounter  with  them. 
Yet  it  seems  to  me  impossible  that  any  one 
harassed  by  the  conflicting  views  of  truth  with 
which  just  now  the  air  is  thick  should  be  able  to 
forget  controversy  while  listening  to  such  language 
as  that  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  It  seems 
to  me  that  nothing  but  silence  can  heal  the  wounds 
made  by  disputations  in  the  region  of  the  unseen. 
No  external  help,  at  any  rate,  has  ever  in  my  own 
experience  proved  so  penetratingly  efficacious  as 
the  habit  of  joining  in  a  public  worship  based  upon 
silence.  Its  primary  attraction  for  me  was  in  the 
fact  that  it  pledged  me  to  nothing,  and  left  me 
altogether  undisturbed  to  seek  for  help  in  my  own 
way.  But  before  long  I  began  to  be  aware  that 
the  united  and  prolonged  silences  had  a  far  more 

*  See  Introduction. 


WORSHIP.  55 

direct  and  powerful  effect  than  this.  They  soon 
began  to  exercise  a  strangely  subduing  and  soften- 
ing effect  upon  my  mind.  There  used,  after  a 
while,  to  come  upon  me  a  deep  sense  of  awe,  as 
we  sat  together  and  waited — for  what?  In  my 
heart  of  hearts  I  knew  in  whose  Name  we  were 
met  together,  and  who  was  truly  in  the  midst  of  us. 
Never  before  had  His  influence  revealed  itself  to  me 
with  so  much  power  as  in  those  quiet  assemblies. 

And   another   result   of    the    practice   of   silent 
waiting   for   the    unseen   Presence  proved  to  be  a 
singularly    effectual    preparation    of  mind    for    the 
willing    reception  of  any  words  which    might  be 
offered  "  in  the  name  of  a  disciple."     The  words 
spoken  were  indeed  often  feeble,  and   always  in- 
adequate   (as    all    words    must    be    in    relation    to 
Divine  things),  sometimes  even  entirely  irrelevant 
to  my  own  individual  needs,  though  at  other  times 
profoundly    impressive   and    helpful ;    but,    coming 
as  they  did  after  the  long  silences  which  had  fallen 
like  dew  upon  the  thirsty  soil,  they  went  far  deeper, 
and  were  received  into  a  much  less  thorny  region 
than  had  ever  been  the  case  with  the  words  I  had 
listened  to  from  the  pulpit. 

In  Friends'  meetings  also,  from  the  fact  that 
every  one  is  free  to  speak,  one  hears  harmonies 
and   correspondences    between  very  various  utter- 


56  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

ances  such  as  are  scarcely  to  be  met  with  elsewhere. 
It  is  sometimes  as  part-singing  compared  with 
unison.  The  free  admission  of  the  ministry  of 
women,  of  course,  greatly  enriches  this  harmony. 
I  have  often  wondered  whether  some  of  the 
motherly  counsels  I  have  listened  to  in  our  meet- 
ing would  not  reach  some  hearts  that  might  be 
closed  to  the  masculine  preacher. 
1/  But  it  is  not  only  the  momentary  effect  of 
silence  as  a  help  in  public  worship  that  consti- 
tutes its  importance  in  Quaker  estimation.  The 
silence  we  value  is  not  the  mere  outward  silence  of 
the  lips.  It  is  a  deep  quietness  of  heart  and  mind, 
a  laying  aside  of  all  preoccupation  with  passing 
things — yes,  even  with  the  workings  of  our  own 
minds;  a  resolute  fixing  of  the  heart  upon  that 
which  is  unchangeable  and  eternal.  This  "  silence 
of  all  flesh "  appears  to  us  to  be  the  essential 
preparation  for  any  act  of  true  worship.  It  is 
also,  we  believe,  the  essential  condition  at  all 
times  of  inward  illumination.  "Stand  still  in  the 
light,"  says  George  Fox  again  and  again,  and  then 
strength  comes — and  peace  and  victory  and  de- 
liverance, and  all  other  good  things.  "Be  still, 
and  know  that  I  am  God."  It  is  the  experience, 
I  believe,  of  all  those  who  have  been  most  deeply 
conscious  of  His  revelations  of  Himself,  that  they 


WORSHIP.  57 

are  made  emphatically  to  the  "waiting"  soul — to 
the  spirit  which  is  most  fully  conscious  of  its  own 
inability  to  do  more  than  wait  in  silence  before 
Him.  The  possibilities  of  inward  silence  can  be 
but  distantly  referred  to  in  words.  The  clearness 
of  inward  vision  which  sometimes  results  from  it 
must  be  experienced  to  be  fully  understood;  the 
things  revealed  to  that  \'ision  are  rather  to  be  lived 
in  than  uttered.  But  the  fact  that  a  strenuous 
endeavour  to  lay  aside  all  disturbing  influences, 
and  to  allow  all  external  vibrations  to  subside,  is 
an  important,  if  not  an  essential,  preparation  for 
the  reception  of  eternal  truth,  seems  to  be  indis- 
putable. To  be  quiet  must  surely  always  be  a 
gain.  To  rule  one's  own  spirit,  and  to  acquire  the 
power  of  proclaiming  at  least  a  truce  within,  must 
surely  be  recognized  by  the  least  "  mystical "  as  a 
rational  and  wholesome  exercise  of  self-control. 

It  is,  to  my  own  mind,  a  singular  confirmation 
of  the  depth  of  truth  in  the  Quaker  ideal,  that  it 
embraces  in  its  application  such  widely  varying 
degrees  of  spirituality.  The  "  inward  silence " 
which  to  the  mystic  means  the  gateway  of  the 
unspeakable,  the  limpid  calmness  of  the  mirror  in 
which  heaven's  glory  is  to  be  reflected,  commends 
itself  also  to  the  sternest  rationalist  as  the  be- 
ginning of  fortitude.     And  the  experience  of  some 


58  QVAKEk  STRONGHOLDS. 

of  us  (whom  I  may,  perhaps,  venture  to  describe 
as  rational  mystics)  proves  the  exceeding  value  of 
the  habit  of  seeking  after  inward  silence  as  a  real 
life-discipline.  Not  only  at  the  times  set  apart 
for  definite  acts  of  worship — though,  whether  in 
public  or  in  private,  it  is  from  the  heart  of  this 
stillness  that  the  voice  of  deepest  prayer  and  praise 
springs  up — but  also  in  all  the  daily  warfare  of 
the  Christian  life,  in  encountering  joy  or  sorrow, 
temptation  or  perplexity,  the  first  condition  and 
the  highest  reward  of  victory  is  equanimity.  "  Be 
not  thou  greatly  moved;"  "Fret  not  thyself,  else 
shalt  thou  be  moved  to  do  evil."  There  is  no  need 
to  multiply  the  words  of  the  wise  on  this  head. 
We  all  surely  have  gone  through  times  when  "he 
opened  not  his  lips  "  expresses  the  only  possible 
attitude  in  which  we  can  hope  to  win  through. 
Silence  and  resolution,  indeed,  seem  almost  like 
different  aspects  of  the  same  thing.  And  silence 
is  assuredly  an  art  to  be  acquired,  a  discipline  to 
be  steadily  practised,  before  it  can  become  the 
instinctive  habit  and  unfailing  resource  of  the  soul. 
The  wise  Roman  Catholic  teachers  all  enjoin  this 
discipline  upon  those  who  desire  to  learn  "perfec- 
tion." Friends  inculcate  it  rather  by  example  than 
by  precept,  though  abundant  recognition  of  its 
importance    is    to    be    found    in    Quaker    writings, 


WORSHIP.  59 

But  I  am  specially  concerned  willi  the  practical 
results  of  our  manner  of  worship ;  and  I  am  bound 
to  say  that,  to  myself,  the  practice  of  quietness  in 
life  is  markedly  facilitated  by  the  habit  of  joining 
in  a  worship  "  based  on  silence." 

The  connection  between  our  practice  of  silence 
and  our  belief  in  inspiration  is,  I  think,  obvious. 
How  can  we  listen  if  we  do  not  cease  to  speak  ? 
How  can  we  receive  while  we  maintain  an  incessant 
activity  ?  It  is  obvious  that  "  a  wise  passiveness  " 
is  essential  to  the  possibility  of  serving  as  chan- 
nels for  any  Divinely  given  utterance.  On  this 
subject  of  being  "  moved  by  the  Spirit,"  there 
seems  often  to  be  the  strangest  difficulty  in 
people's  minds.  They  imagine  that  Friends  claim 
the  possession  of  something  like  a  miraculous  gift 
— something  as  baffling  to  ordinary  reason  as  the 
speaking  in  unknown  tongues  of  the  Irvingites. 
Speaking  under  correction,  and  with  a  sense  that 
the  matter  reaches  to  unknown  depths,  I  should 
say  that  this  was  quite  a  mistake.  What  Friends 
undoubtedly  believe  and  maintain  is  that  to  the 
listening  heart  God  does  speak  intelligibly;  and 
further,  that  some  amongst  His  worshippers  are 
gifted  with  a  special  openness  to  receive,  and  power 
to  transmit  in  words,  actual  messages  from  Himself 
Is    this    more   than    is    necessarily   implied   in   the 


6o  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

belief  that   real  communion  with  Him  is  not  only 
possible,  but  is  freely  open  to  all  ? 

We  do  not  regard  those  who  have  the  gift  of 
"  ministry "  as  infallible,  or  even  as  necessarily 
closer  to  God  than  many  of  the  silent  worshippers 
who  form  the  great  majority  in  every  congregation. 
We  feel  that  the  gift  is  from  above,  and  that  on  all 
of  us  lies  the  responsibility  of  being  open  to  it, 
willing  to  receive  it,  should  it  be  bestowed,  and  to 
use  it  faithfully  while  entrusted  with  it.  But  we 
fully  recognize  that  to  do  this  perfectly  requires  a 
continual  submission  of  the  will,  and  an  unceasing 
watchfulness.  We  know  that  to  "keep  close  to 
the  gift "  is  not  an  easy  thing.  We  know  that  the 
singleness  of  eye  which  alone  can  enable  any  one 
always  to  discern  between  the  immediate  guidance 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  and  the  mere  promptings  of 
our  own  hearts,  is  not  attained  without  much 
patience,  and  a  diligent  and  persevering  use  of  all 
the  means  of  instruction  provided  for  us.  We 
recognize  the  value  of  such  corrections  even  as 
may  come  through  the  minds  of  others;  for, 
although  the  servant  is  responsible  only  to  his  own 
Master,  and  we  desire  earnestly  to  beware  of  any 
dependence  on  each  other  in  such  matters,  yet  it 
has  (as  I  have  already  mentioned)  been  thought 
right  that   some   Friends   should  be   specially   ap- 


WORSHIP^  61 

pointed  to  watch  over  the  ministers  in  the  exercise 
of  their  gift.  The  "  elders,"  to  whom  this  task 
is  entrusted,  do  in  fact  often  offer  not  only  en- 
couragement or  counsel,  but  at  times  admoni- 
tion and  even  rebuke,  when  they  believe  it  to 
be  needed.  It  is  thus  clear  that  the  Society  has 
always  held  with  the  Apostle  Paul  that  "the  spirits 
of  the  prophets  are  subject  to  the  prophets."  The 
great  care  and  caution  shown  in  all  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  Society  with  respect  to  ministry  bear 
witness  to  its  recognition  of  the  deep  truth,  that, 
the  more  precious  the  treasure,  the  more  serious 
the  risks  to  which  the  earthen  vessels  enclosing 
it  are  exposed. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  How  can  you  dis- 
tinguish between  a  message  from  above  and  the 
suggestions  of  your  own  imagination  ?  *     The  only 

*  It  is,  I  think,  in  this  connection  important  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  question,  How  do  you  in  practice  distinguish  between  a 
true  and  a  false  message?  and  the  quite  separate  inquiry,  How  do 
you  in  theory  distinguish  between  the  human  faculty  of  imagination 
and  the  Divine  action  signified  by  the  word  "inspiration"?  It  is 
with  the  first  question  only  that  I  have  been  concerned  in  the  text,  as 
it  is,  I  believe,  the  only  question  with  which  honesty  requires  us  to 
grapple.  Any  attempt  to  give  a  full  answer  to  the  second  question 
would  require  a  degree  of  psychological  skill  to  which  I  have  no 
claim ;  and  I  doubt  whether  the  very  terms  of  the  question  do  not 
lead  us  beyond  the  province  even  of  psychology.  But,  speaking  in 
a  popular  and  trustful  way,  I  should  reply  that  we  are  not  con- 
cerned to  discern  the  precise  limits  of  the  Divine  and  the  human ; 
only  to  throw  open  the  deepest  human  powers  to  the  purest  Divine 


62  .  (2UAKER  STRONGHOLDS, 

answer  which  can  be  given  to  this  question  is,  that 
to  do  so  for  practical  purposes  does  indeed  require 
all  the  heavenly  wisdom  and  all  the  humble 
sincerity  of  heart  of  which  we  are  capable.  Wor- 
ship, to  those  who  believe  that  God  is,  and  is 
indeed  to  be  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  is 
surely  the  highest  function  of  the  human  spirit. 
To  attain  to  such  a  transparency  of  heart  and 
mind  as  shall  admit  of  our  serving  as  channels  for 
the  worship  of  others,  and  for  the  Divine  response 
to  such  worship — ladders,  as  it  were,  on  which  the 
angels  of  God  may  ascend  and  descend  in  the 
place  of  worship — is,  indeed,  an  aim  which  must 
transcend  all  merely  human  power.  We  need 
for  it  the  continual  renovation  of  Him  who  is 
Light — "the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life."  But 
dare  any,  who  call  themselves  believers  on  Him, 
doubt  that  such  renovation  is  open  to  us  ? 

I  can  understand  those  who  think  all  worship 
idle,  or  worse  than  idle ;  I  cannot  understand  those 
who  think  it  can  be  acceptably  performed  without 
the  help  of  the  Spirit  Himself  making  intercession 
for  us,  and  witli  us,  and  in  us,  or  that  this  help 
will  fail  any  true  worshipper.     Yet,  if  we  do  believe 

influences ;  that  the  result  we  look  for  is  the  fruit  of  a  devout  in- 
telligence, first  purified,  and  then  swayed,  by  the  immediate  action 
of  Divine  power.  It  surely  involves  something  like  a  contradiction 
in  terms  to  inquire  at  what  precise  line  a  distinction  is  obliterated  ? 


WORSHIP.  63 

this  help  is  given,  are  we  not  looking  to  be  "  moved 
by  the  Spirit "  ?  Is  the  expectation  peculiar  to 
any  one  body  of  Christians  ?  Surely  not.  What 
is  peculiar  to  us  Friends  is  the  dread  of  limiting 
or  interfering  with  the  immediate  influences  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  by  the  use  of  fixed  forms  of  words, 
and  by  outward  observances  or  pressure  of  any  kind. 

As  I  have  already  said,  I  do  not  feel  that  ours 
is  the  only  lawful  manner  of  worship  ;  I  do  not 
even  think  it  at  all  clear  that  it  would  be  for  all 
people  and  at  all  times  the  most  helpful.  But  I 
do  believe  it  to  be  the  purest  conceivable.  I  am 
jealous  for  its  preservation  from  any  admixture  of 
adventitious  "  aids  to  devotion."  I  believe  that 
its  absolute  freedom  and  flexibility,  its  unrivalled 
simplicity  and  gravity,  make  it  a  vessel  of  honour 
prepared  in  an  especial  manner  for  the  conveyance 
of  the  pure  water  of  life  to  many  in  these  days 
who  are  hindered  from  satisfying  their  souls'  thirst 
by  questionable  additions  to  the  essence  of  Divine 
worship. 

I  know  that,  in  Friends'  meetings  as  elsewhere, 
one  must  be  prepared  to  meet  with  much  human 
weakness  and  imperfection ;  many  things  may 
be  heard  in  them  which  are  trying  to  the  flesh 
— yes,  and  perhaps  to  the  spirit  also.  Certainly 
many  things  may   be  heard  which   are   open   to 


64  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

criticism,   from   an   intellectual   and   literary  point 
of  view.      Let  no  one    go   to    Friends*    meetings 
with  the  expectation  of  finding  everything  to  his 
taste.      Yet   even    mere   taste,  if    duly   cultivated, 
must  recognize  the  value  of  a  certain  weight  and 
simplicity,   arising,    no    doubt,    from   the  habitual 
practice  of  inward  silence,  by  which  they  are  often 
distinguished.      This    is,    however,    a   point    upon 
which  no  one  who  is  alive  to  the  real  significance 
of  such    meetings   as    ours  would   care  to    dwell. 
Criticism   fades  away  abashed  in  the  presence  of 
what  is  felt  to  be  a  real,  however  faltering,  endea- 
vour to  open  actual  communication  with  the  Father 
of  spirits,  and  with  each  other  as  in  His  presence 
and  in  His  name.     To  my  own  mind,  any  living 
utterance  of  a  human  voice  pleading  for  itself  and 
for  the  objects  of  its  love  in  words  fresh  from  the 
heart,  has  a  power  and  a  pathos  infinitely  beyond 
that   of  the  most   perfect  expression    of  devotion 
read  or  recited  according  to  an  appointed  order.* 

*  People  have  said  to  me  again  and  again,  If  you  want  to  be 
silent,  why  cannot  you  be  silent  at  home?  Such  an  objection  seems 
hardly  intended  to  be  seriously  answered,  yet  I  have  heard  it  so 
often  that  I  cannot  but  notice  it.  Surely  it  need  hardly  be  pointed 
out  that  it  applies  at  least  equally  strongly  to  the  practice  of 
meeting  together  to  join  in  prayers,  which,  being  already  in  print 
and  chosen  according  to  the  calendar,  each  of  us  might  read  at 
home.  But  the  worthier  answer  is  that,  whether,  our  utterance  be 
prearranged  or  spontaneous,  we  meet  in  order  to  kindle  in  each 
other  the  flame  of  true  worship,  and  also  to  show  forth  our  allegiance 


WORSHIP.  65 

It  is  an  important  peculiarity  of  our  meetings 
that  the  responsibility  for  their  character  is  felt 
to  be  shared  by  all.  I  do  not  mean  that  all  our 
members  are  in  fact  alive  to  their  own  share  of 
this  responsibilit)'.  The  service  is,  no  doubt,  often 
far  too  much  left  to  one  or  more  willing  speakers. 
But  I  do  not  believe  that  it  would  be  possible 
amongst  Friends  for  anything  like  the  sense  of 
dependence  on  one  individual  to  arise  which  seems 
naturally  to  result  from  the  idea  of  a  priestly 
order.  And,  at  any  rate,  the  idea  is  kept  continu- 
ally before  us  of  a  company  coming  together  on 
one  level,  each  of  whom  is  free  and  encouraged  to 
bring  his  individual  offering  of  praise  and  prayer, 
whether  silent  or  vocal.  It  is  a  familiar  thought 
amongst  Friends  that  no  one  should  expect  in  a 
meeting  for  worship  "  to  eat  the  bread  of  idleness." 
And  the  practice  which  is  so  frequent  amongst  us 
of  ministering  Friends  travelling  from  meeting  to 
meeting  in  the  exercise  of  their  gift,  causes  a 
stirring  of  the  waters,  and  keeps  up  the  sense  of 
the  freedom  of  all  to  take  their  part  whenever  and 
wherever  a  word  may  be  given  them. 

There  is  one  other  result  of  the  absence  of  pre- 
arrangement    in    our    meetings    which    I    cannot 

fo  the  Master,  to  whom  we  are  so  united  as  to  feel  our  need  of  each 
Other's  sympathy  in  drawing  near  to  Him, 


66  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

altogether  pass  over.  It  is  that  no  shelter-  is 
provided  under  cover  of  which  one  can  remain 
in  doubt  whether  one  is  or  is  not  actually  engaged 
in  worship  on  one's  own  account.  A  liturgy  or  a 
hymn  may  bear  along  in  its  current  many  a  vague 
half-formed  tendency  towards  worship  ;  and  I  dare 
not  say  that  it  may  not  thus  sometimes  fan  the 
spark  into  a  flame,  or  save  the  smoking  flax  from 
being  altogether  quenched.  But  it  does  seem  to 
me  that  it  also  often  prevents  our  recognizing  our 
own  poverty,  and  stifles  many  an  individual  cry 
for  help,  which  the  sense  of  that  poverty  would 
tend  to  awaken.  At  any  rate,  the  worst  that  can 
very  well  happen,  if  a  silent  meeting  fails  to  help, 
is  that  it  is  nothing.  It  would  scarcely  seem 
possible  that  it  should  delude  any  one  into  a 
hollow  sense  of  having  been  engaged  in  a  religious 
service.  But  here  I  am  aware  of  being  near  the 
treacherous  ground  of  idiosyncrasy,  and  I  do  not 
wish  to  press  the  point. 

Hitherto  I  have  been  speaking  of  our  meetings 
for  public  worship.  But,  as  Friends  love  to  say, 
our  worship  does  not  begin  when  we  sit  down 
together  in  our  public  assemblies,  nor  end  when 
we  leave  them.  The  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth 
is  in  no  way  limited  by  time  and  place.  The 
same  idea  of  a  waiting  "  in  the  silence  of  all  flesh  " 


WORSHIP.  67 

to  hear  the  voice  of  the  Lord  speaking  within  us^ 
characterizes  the  Friends'  private  times  of  worship  ; 
or,  as  the  more  cautious  expression  is,  of  "  religious 
retirement."  Friends  are  so  possessed  with  the 
sense  of  our  inability  to  offer  acceptable  prayer  in 
our  own  time  and  will,  that  where  others  speak  of 
family  prayers,  and  hours  of  prayer  or  devotion, 
Friends  prefer  the  expressions  "  family  reading " 
and  "  religious  retirement." 

And  not  only  in  name,  but  in  method,  are  these 
times  marked  with  the  same  peculiar  character  as 
our  public  meetings.  In  Friends'  families  of  the 
old-fashioned  type  (which  are  more  numerous  still, 
I  fancy,  than  many  people  suspect)  the  family 
meeting  consists  simply  of  the  reading  of  a  portion 
of  Scripture,  and  then  a  pause  of  silence,  which 
may  or  may  not  be  broken  by  words  of  prayer  or 
of  testimony.  Many  Friends  formerly  (and  some, 
I  believe,  still  feel  the  same)  objected  on  conscien- 
tious grounds  to  their  children's  learning  to  use 
any  form  of  prayer,  e\^en  the  Lord's  Prayer.  The 
children  shared  from  the  first  in  the  united  silence 
of  the  family,  and  could  not  fail  to  know  what  it 
meant ;  but  in  some  families  it  was  rarely  or  never 
broken  by  vocal  prayer.  A  silent  pause  before  meals 
is  the  Friends'  equivalent  for  "  saying  grace  " — a 
practice  which  I  own  I  think  has  much  to  recom- 


68  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

mend  it.  Here,  again,  there  is,  of  course,  the  oppor- 
tunity for  words,  should  words  spontaneously  rise 
to  the  lips  of  any  of  those  present. 

When  we  penetrate  into  the  inmost  chamber 
of  private  worship  differences  of  method  can  no 
longer  be  traced  by  human  eye.  It  is  not  possible 
for  any  one  to  ju'dge  of  the  practice  of  others  in 
this  respect ;  nay,  there  seems  an  impropriety  in 
following  individuals  into  this  sacred  region,  even 
in  thought.  Sectarian  differences  must  here  be 
left  behind.  But  for  that  very  reason  I  may  here 
appeal  with  the  greater  fulness  of  confidence  to 
the  sympathy  of  all  who  pray,  in  the  attempt, 
from  which  I  feel  it  impossible  to  refrain,  to 
explain  the  way  in  which  a  belief  in  present 
inspiration  is,  as  I  think,  inseparable  from  belief 
in  the  reality  and  the  rightness  of  prayer. 

I  trust  that  I  shall  not  be  thought  presumptuous 
for  entering  upon  this  subject.  There  are  many 
qualifications  for  it  which  I  do  not  possess.  But 
on  matters  of  common  and  urgent  interest  the  very 
absence  of  distinguishing  power  or  knowledge  may 
give  a  certain  value  to  the  results  of  actual  personal 
experience,  as  lessening  the  distance  across  which 
the  helping  hand  has  to  reach  out. 

I  believe  that  the  permanent  effect  for  good  or 
for  evil  of  the   present  shaking  and   upheaval   of 


WORSHIP.  69 

thought  amongst  us  must  be  mainly  determined 
by  its  relation  to  prayer.  No  immediate  result  of 
the  outbreak  of  free  discussion  of  all  things  in 
heaven  and  earth  during  the  last  thirty  years  has 
been  so  agonizing  to  devout  persons,  nor  so  gravely 
threatens  spiritual  health,  as  the  paral}'sis  which  in 
many  cases  it  has  seemed  to  bring  upon  the  spirit 
of  prayer.  We  meet  daily  with  open  denials  of 
the  reasonableness  of  prayer — of  the  possibility  of 
entering  into  any  real  communication  with  the 
Divine  Being.  Few  amongst  us  can  have  alto- 
gether escaped  the  paralyzing  influence  of  the  flood 
of  unsolved,  and  apparently  insoluble,  moral  pro- 
blems, and  at  the  same  time  of  new  and  absorbingly 
interesting  views  of  material  things,  into  which  this 
generation  has  been  plunged.  The  mere  demand 
on  the  attention  is  powerful  enough  to  drain  away 
great  part  of  the  mental  power  formerly  employed 
in  seeking  after  God. 

"  It  seems  His  newer  will, 
We  should  not  think  of  Him  at  all,  but  trudge  it; 
And  of  the  world  He  has  assigned  us  make 
What  best  we  can," 

says  A.  H.  Clough;  and  he  utters,  I  am  sure,  a 
widely  spread  feeling.  People's  very  love  of  truth 
seems  to  themseh^es  to  be  enlisted  in  pursuing  the 
streams  which  lead  them  away  from  the  Fountain 
of  truth.     And   the    pursuit    of  scientific  truth  is 


JO  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

assuredly  in  its  place  a  contribution  to  our  know- 
ledge of  God,  though  made  by  workers  who  may 
but  too  easily  themselves  lose  sight  of  Him  in 
their  engrossing  preoccupation  with  His  works. 

But  the  tendency  to  put  prayer  to  silence  is  not 
merely  thus  indirect.  The  one  idea  which  seems 
at  present  more  forcibly  to  have  grasped  the 
popular  imagination,  is  that  of  the  univ^ersal  and 
inexorable  dominion  of  unchanirinG:  law.  And  the 
inference  is  not  unnatural,  "  Then  it  is  useless  to 
pray."  The  result  is  an  awful  silence — not  of  the 
flesh,  indeed,  but  of  the  spirit.  Men  and  women 
have  come  to  feel  themselves  alone  in  a  new  and 
fearful  sense — alone  as  in  the  valley  of  dry  bones, 
with  no  expectation  of  any  Divine  breath  to  cause 
them  to  stand  up  upon  their  feet,  a  united  host  of 
living  servants  of  the  living  God. 

I  trust  that  I  shall  not  be  suspected  of  any 
intention  of  grappling  with  the  problem  of  free-will 
and  necessity.  I  know,  at  least,  enough  to  be 
aware  that  there  is  at  the  end  of  every  avenue  of 
human  thought  an  impenetrable  mystery.  But  I 
also  know  that  the  region  in  which  philosophers 
join  issue  upon  the  question  of  necessity  lies  far 
beyond  the  range  of  any  such  practical  questions 
as  I  am  engaged  with.  I  know  that  the  controv^ersy 
is  not  decided,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  does  not 


WORSHIP.  71 

visibly  approach  towards  a  decision  ;  I  know  also 
that  no  conceivable  agreement  of  philosophers  as 
to  the  most  accurate  way  of  stating  facts  can  alter 
the  facts  themselves  with  which  we  have  to  do.  I 
do  not  hope  to  express  myself  with  philosophical 
accuracy  ;  but  I  can,  and  will,  speak  plainly  and 
truly  of  my  own  experience  in  this  matter  of 
prayer. 

There  was  a  time  when  I  myself  was  silenced  by 
the  paralyzing  influences  of  which  I  have  spoken — 
when  the  heavens  seemed  as  brass,  and  to  ask  for 
anything  seemed  like  flying  in  the  face  of  one  vast 
foregone  conclusion ;  as  though  a  moth  should 
dash  itself  against  an  iceberg.  But  I  have  come  to 
believe  that  the  truth  against  which  I  had  thus,  so 
to  speak,  stumbled  in  the  dark,  was  not  that  prayer 
is  unreasonable,  but  that  my  ideas  of  prayer  were 
unworthy. 

That  the  will  of  God  is  unchangeable,  is  assuredly 
the  very  foundation  of  all  reasonable  trust  in  Him, 
and  is  recognized  by  saints  and  philosophers  alike. 
But  does  not  the  imagination  easily  confound 
unchangeableness  with  immovableness  ?  Are  not 
the  laws  of  motion  as  fixed  as  those  of  space? 
What  can  be  more  full  of  movement  than  the  flames 
of  fire  ?  Yet  are  they  less  unchangeable  in  their 
nature  than  a  bar  of  iron  ?     Is  it  not  through  a 


72  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

reliance  upon  the  unchangeable  properties  of 
material  things  that  we  are  able  to  change  the 
whole  face  of  the  earth  ?  And  should  we  not 
remember  that  the  unchangeable  order  which  all 
things,  visible  and  invisible,  obey,  includes  the 
mystery  of  perpetual  "  variation,"  and  even  of  life 
itself? 

It  seems  to  me  that  when  our  imagination  smites 
everything  with  rigidity,  it  is  really  playing  us  a 
trick.  Those  who  are  at  all  competent  to  expound 
the  theory  of  necessity  are  earnest  to  show  that  it 
in  no  way  contradicts  the  efficacy  of  effort  in  any 
possible  direction.  They  have  need  to  be  earnest 
about  it,  for  the  imagination  is  but  too  ready  for  a 
pretext  to  hoist  the  flag  of  despair,  and  the  will  to 
throw  up  the  game  of  life,  and  to  sink  into  the 
sleep  of  apathy. 

If  we  are  rip"ht  in  thinkin<7  of  God  as  the 
Fountain  of  life  and  thought,  the  Father  of  spirits 
■ — and  to  those  who  deny  this  it  is  idle  for  me  to 
address  myself — it  can  surely  not  be  unreasonable 
for  the  spirits  He  has  made  to  seek  to  hold 
communion  with  Him.  What  is  often  unreasonable 
is  the  nature  of  our  requests,  and  our  idea  of  the 
possibility  of  their  being  granted.  Here  it  is  that 
I  have  had  to  recognize  the  unworthiness  of  many 
of  my  own  thoughts  and  expressions  about  prayer, 


WORSHIP.  73 

and  that  I  continually  meet  with  what  seems  to 
me  unfit  and  inadequate  in  the  language  of  others. 
It  cannot  be  an  unimportant  thing  that  we  should 
endeavour  to  sift  out  what  is  untenable  and  un- 
becoming from  our  thoughts  and  words  on  this 
subject. 

Two  things  have,  as  I  believe,  mainly  tended  to 
lower  our  idea  of  prayer,  until,  in  minds  where  it 
is  but  a  theor)',  it  has  been  shattered  against  the 
hard  facts  of  science.  We  have  narrowed  it  to  the 
idea  of  asking  for  things,  and  we  have  thought  of 
it  chiefly  as  a  means  of  getting  them. 

This  is  surely  a  degradation  of  the  idea  of  prayer, 
even  though  the  things  asked  for  be  what  are  called 
"spiritual  blessings."  The  word  "prayer"  may,  it 
is  true,  be  used  in  the  restricted  sense  of  making 
requests ;  but  in  that  case  let  it  be  distincth' 
understood  and  kept  in  mind  that  it  is  but  a  part 
— the  lowest  and  least  essential  part — of  worship 
or  communion  with  God.  It  is  of  prayer  in  the 
larger  sense — not  request,  but  communion — that 
we  may  rightly  and  wisely  speak  as  the  very  breath 
of  our  spiritual  life ;  as  the  power  by  which  life  is 
transfigured ;  as  that  to  which  all  things  are 
possible.  But  this  distinction  between  request  and 
communion  is  not  habitually  kept  in  mind  by  those 
who  write   and   speak  of  prayer,  nor   even  by  all 


74  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

those  who  practise  it.  Tt  seems  to  me  as  if  many 
even  deeply  experienced  Christians  were  using  all 
their  energy  to  encourage  and  stimulate  above  all 
that  part  of  prayer  which  has  surely  the  most  of 
the  merely  human  and  carnal  in  it,  rather  than  to 
show  forth  that  nobler  part  to  which  this  should  be 
but  the  innocent  and  natural  prelude.  If  we  fall 
back,  as  we  must  perpetually  do,  upon  our  Lord's 
own  leading  principle  of  using  the  human  relation  of 
parent  and  child  as  the  highest  and  most  instructive 
type  of  the  relation  between  God  and  the  human 
spirit,  we  shall  surely  feel  that  the  child,  in  learning 
to  speak  to  its  father  and  to  understand  his  voice, 
has  far  other  and  larger  hopes  and  purposes  than 
that  of  getting  things  from  him.  The  human 
parent  may  use  the  child's  innocent  and  natural 
wishes  as  one  means  of  attracting  its  attention,  but 
would  surely  be  grievously  disappointed  if  the  child 
never  looked  beyond  the  advantages  to  be  reaped 
by  the  power  of  speaking  to  its  father — never  rose 
to  the  perception  that  intercourse  Vvirh  him  was  in 
itself  the  greatest  of  human  joys,  not  a  mere  means 
to  an  end. 

And  in  the  same  sort  of  sense  I  feel  that,  when 
people  insist  upon  "the  efficacy  of  prayer,"  they 
are  insisting  upon  its  very  lowest  use ;  and  that  the 
concentration    of    attention    upon    this    lowest    use 


WORSHIP.  75 

creates    a   serious   stumbling-block,   whic'i    b.inders 
faith  in  two  ^\•ays. 

1.  It  suggests  a  test  which  is  not  a:ul  cannot 
be  uniformly  favourable.  Whatever  the  power  of 
prayer  may  be — and  words,  I  believe,  must  wholly 
fail  to  express  it — particular  requests  are  certainly 
not  always  granted.  Our  Lord  explicitly  prepares 
us  for  the  refusal  of  blind  requests,  and  our  own 
good  sense  and  our  daily  experience  combine  to 
make  it  abundantly  clear  that  many  requests  are, 
and  must  always  be,  refused. 

2.  And  more  than  this,  there  is,  I  believe,  nobility 
enough  in  every  heart  capable  of   real  prayer    to 
cause  a  recoil  from  the  idea  of  using  it  only  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  advantages,  be  they  of  what 
kind  they  may.     I  believe,  that  is,  that  the  modern 
perplexity    about    prayer    arises    not    only  from    a 
difficulty  in  imagining  God  as   One   who    can  be 
influenced  by  our  desires,  but  largely  also  from  a 
latent  sense  that,  even  if  true  in  fact,  that  is  a  \-ery 
inadequate  conception  of  Him  to  whom  our  w^orship 
should  be  addressed,  and  who  must  assuredly  know 
better  than  we  do  what  things  we  have  need  of— 
from  a  recoil,  in  short,  against  the  low  and  coarse 
and  unworthy  tone  of  much  that  is  urged  on  the 

other  side. 

Therefore  I  think  that  in  the  lonj^run  an  immea- 


76  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

surable  gain  will  result  to  faith  from  modern  out- 
spokenness in  recognizing  the  difficulties  of  this 
subject.  Prayer,  if  regarded  as  an  attempt  to 
wrest  favours  from  our  heavenly  Father  by  dint 
of  mere  importunity,  is  doomed  to  many  dis- 
appointments, and  stands  sorely  in  need  of  their 
purifying  discipline.  Prayer  is  not  really  prayer — 
that  is,  it  is  not  true  communion  with  God — till  it 
rises  above  the  region  in  which  wilfulness  is  possible, 
to  the  height  of  "  Not  my  will,  but  Thine,  be  done." 

Importunity  may,  indeed,  prevail  to  win  atten- 
tion from  a  reluctant  or  drowsy  human  ear.  Our 
Lord  Himself  reminds  us  of  this  fact  to  reprove 
the  faint-heartedness  which  would  allow  itself  to 
be  discouraged  by  delay.  But  the  ear  of  the 
Father  is  ever  open  to  our  prayers.  We  cannot 
think  that  importunity  is  needed  to  rouse  His 
attention.  The  hindrance  when  He  refuses,  or 
delays  to  grant,  our  requests  must  be  of  a  very 
different  kind.  If  once  we  recognize  that  He  hears 
us  always,  and  that  in  everything  that  happens  we 
may  hear  His  voice  answering  us,  we  are  forced 
also  to  recognize  that  severe  discipline  is  as  truly  a 
part  of  His  answer  as  tender  indulgence.  Both  are 
welcomed  by  the  childlike  heart;  both  are  part  of 
the  language  we  have  patiently  to  learn  to  interpret. 

But  tlicn   comes,  the  question,  What  is  there  to 


WORSHIP.  77 

convince  us  that  we  are  listened  to  at  all,  if  the 
answer  is  everything  equally  ?  If  it  is  in  the  whole 
course  of  events  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  answer, 
and  that  course  is  as  often  as  not  coxAxzxy  to  our 
prayer,  how  are  we  justified  in  saying  that  prayer 
is  ever  answered  ? 

It  is  the  answer  to  this  question,  What  is  it  that 
does,  in  fact,  produce  a  reasonable  conviction  that 
we  are  listened  to  ?  which,  I  think,  involves  that 
theory  of  inspiration  which  Friends,  more  markedly 
than  any  other  body  of  Christians,  have  always 
avowed  and  acted  upon.  But,  in  trying  to  reply 
to  it,  I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  borne  in  mind  that 
I  am  giving,  for  what  it  is  worth,  the  result  of  my 
own  personal  exercises  of  mind,  not  undertaking 
to  state  recognized  Quaker  doctrine.*      Difficulties, 

»  In  what  follows  there  is,  indeed,  no  "doctrine"  of  any  kind; 
no  attempt,  I  mean,  to  offer  formulated  or  authorized  teaching.  I 
have  endeavoured  to  show  how  in  my  own  experience  the  intellectual 
difficulties  with  which  the  subject  is  surrounded  did,  when  honestly 
and  patiently  faced,  prove  in  due  time  the  means  of  purifying,  not  of 
quenching,  that  true  spirit  of  prayer  which  is  indeed  the  very  breath 
of  our  inner  life.  I  trust  that  none  will  misunderstand  my  out- 
spokenness in  stating  those  difficulties.  They  are,  and  in  these 
days  must  be,  freely  recognized.  Unless  we  who  have  a  witness  to 
bear  for  the  Author  of  spiritual  worship  are  willing  to  face  them, 
our  witness  will  fail  to  reach  those  who  most  sorely  need  it.  I  am 
driven  once  more  to  appeal  to  "something  more  than  candour"  in 
my  readers  for  a  right  interpretation  of  my  struggle  to  unfold 
thoughts  which  tax  my  powers  of  utterance  to  tlie  uttermost,  and 
which  I  yet  dare  not  withhold. 


78  CJUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

though  probably  in  essence  the  same  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  come  before  each  generation 
in  a  fresh  form,  and  need  to  be  freshly  met  by 
individual  experience. 

That  which  produces  a  reasonable  conviction 
that  prayer  is  answered  must,  surely,  be  the  sense 
of  Divine  guidance  of  which  I  have  already  spoken 
in  the  last  chapter.  The  general  grounds  for  our 
common  belief  in  God  as  the  Father  of  spirits  are 
too  deep  and  too  wide  for  me  to  set  forth.  As 
I  have  already  said,  I  assume  such  a  belief  as  the 
groundwork  of  all  that  I  am  attempting  to  unfold. 
That  which  enables  each  one  of  us  who  believe  in 
Him  to  discern  His  voice  is,  as  already  suggested,  a 
touch  as  of  a  hand  upon  our  arm — a  dealing  with 
our  own  spirit  and  life  of  so  personal  and  indivi- 
dual and  significant  a  nature  as  that  we  cannot 
help  feeling  that  "the  finger  of  God  is  come 
unto  us." 

If  this  be,  indeed,  the  right  direction  in  which 
to  look  for  answers  to  prayer,  then  the  whole 
subject  is  withdrawn  from  the  region  in  which 
positive  proof  or  disproof  are  possible.  Our  inter- 
pretation of  such  individual  experiences  is  that 
upon  which  the  whole  controversy  turns,  and  this 
must  of  necessity  result  from  the  nature  of  our 
previous  belief  respecting  much  more  general  truths. 


WORSHIP.  79 

"it  will  always  be  open  to  those  who  disbelieve  in 
God  to  call  His  signs  "  mere  coincidences."     It  is 
surely  not   therefore  the   less  reasonable  for  those 
who  do  believe  in  Him  to  be   on   the    watch    for 
every  possible    faintest  indication  of  His  pleasure. 
There  must  be  in  this,  as  in  all  other  matters,  a 
preparation    of  heart    and    mind    before    any  sign, 
however    eloquent,    can    take    effect   upon  us.     In 
point  of  fact,  we  know  that  the  sense  of  receiving 
a  personal  communication  from  above  is  not  always 
excited  by  the  granting  of  a  petition.      After  we 
have  asked  and  received,  no  less  than  when  we  have 
asked  and  not  received,  we  are  sometimes  inclined 
to  say,  "  After  all,  does  my  prayer  make  any  differ- 
ence ?  would  not  things  have  happened  just  in  the 
same  way  if  I  had  not  prayed  ?  "     This  is  a  question 
to  which,  in  truth,  I  believe  that  we  must  be  content 
(so  far,  at  least,  as  regards  any  particular  instance) 
to  remain  without  an  answer.     We  can  never  really 
know  what  would  have  happened  if  we    had   not 

prayed. 

To  say  this  is,  of  course,  by  no  means  to  deny 
that  our  prayer  has  made  a  real  though  unknown 
difference.  It  is,  on  the  contrary,  almost  positively 
to  assert  the  action  of  unmeasured  and  unfathom- 
able influences.  We  cannot  measure  the  whole 
results   of  any   action,  however  insignificant;   but 


So  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

the  whole  tendency  of  modern  "  scientific  "  thought, 
and  of  beUef  in  "  necessity,"  at  any  rate,  goes  to 
show  that  all  things  are  so  interdependent  that  an 
action  without  results  is  almost  inconceivable. 
Necessitarians,  of  all  people,  are  bound  to  admit 
this.  The  action  of  prayer  cannot,  however,  be 
traced  by  human  eyes,  and  the  longing  to  know 
precisely  what  difference  our  prayer  makes  to  the 
course  of  events  is,  I  believe,  a  longing  which  can 
never  be  gratified  in  this  world. 

Yet  a  power  which  we  cannot  precisely  measure 
may  make  itself  continually  felt,  and  the  power  of 
prayer  is  in  some  lives  a  matter  of  perpetually 
renewed  if  incommunicable  experience.  The  testi- 
mony of  those  who  can  thankfully  and  reverently 
say  that  their  prayers  are  answered  in  a  manner 
that  is  wonderful  in  their  own  eyes,  is  too  familiar 
and  too  sacred  to  all  of  us  to  need  insisting  upon. 
Its  weight  is,  I  believe,  strictly  speaking,  immea- 
surable. But  it  is  in  a  manner  naturally  veiled 
from  hasty  or  external  observation,  and  is,  there- 
fore, easily  disregarded.  When  fully  considered,  it 
will  be  found  to  consist  mainly  in  combinations  of 
circumstances  by  no  means  incredible  in  them- 
selves.  It  is  not  the  accuracy  of  the  facts  recorded 
by  those  to  whom  prayer  is  a  reality,  but  the  ex- 
planation of  their  combination,  which  is  generally 


WORSHIP.  8 1 

in  question.  If  I  am  right  in  supposing  that  we 
can  never  trace  the  precise  relation  of  cause  and 
effect  between  pra>-er  and  the  answer,  this  difficulty 
— the  difficult>^  I  mean,  of  exhaustively  explaining 

significant    combinations    of  circumstances is  not 

surprising.  It  is  the  natural  result  of  our  bein^^ 
out  of  our  depth. 

But  although  the  whole  region  into  which  we 
plunge  when  we  begin  to  speak  of  the  answer  to 
our  prayers  is  of  necessity  unfathomable  by  us, 
we  may  with  advantage  remember  that  there  are 
some  special  difficulties  besetting  any  attempt  to 
share  with  others  the  experiences  which  have 
naturally  and  rightly  most  weight  with  ourselves; 
and  that  by  disregarding  these  difficulties  we 
convert  them  into  stumbling-blocks. 

One  main  difficulty  of  this  kind  lies  in  the  fact 
that  the  outward  events  of  which  we  can  speak 
most  freely,  which  we  can,  as  it  were,  without 
impropriety  call  others  to  witness,  must  be  more 
or  less  public  in  their  nature ;  such  as,  e.g.,  the  pre- 
ser\ation  of  lives  dear  to  us,  political  or  national 
events,  favourable  changes  of  weather,  and  so  on 
— things  as  to  which  it  is  not  upon  any  theory 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  can  be  determined 
with  reference  only  to  the  wishes  or  the  prayers  of 
any  one  individual.       l{\-cn   if  they  went  according 


82  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

to  my  personal  wishes  and  prayers,  there  would  be 
a  manifest  impropriety  in  claiming  them  as  having 
been  thereby  brought  about.  If  I  pray  that  the 
sun  may  rise  to-morrow  morning,  it  does  not  need 
much  faith  to  feel  sure  I  shall  not  be  refused,  but 
it  would  be  grossly  improper  to  claim  that  the 
event  had  occurred  "in  answer  to  my  prayers." 
When  the  Prince  of  Wales  recovered  from  his 
fever,  there  were  many  who  would  have  thought  it 
impious  to  doubt  that  his  recovery  was  actually 
causcdhy  \h&  many  prayers  which  were  undoubtedly 
offered  on  his  behalf.  Other  people  were  and  will 
remain  convinced  that  he  would  equally  have  re- 
covered in  any  case.  Who  can  attempt  to  decide 
between  these  opinions  with  any  show  of  authority  ? 
Indeed,  it  appears  to  me  that  both  are  presump- 
tuous. Surely  it  is  enough  for  children  to  know 
that  their  desire  is  fulfilled,  without  inquiring  into 
the  motives  (if,  indeed,  we  should  dare  to  attribute 
motives  to  God)  by  which  the  parents'  fulfilment 
of  it  was  prompted. 

In  the  case  of  many  events  (such  as  battles, 
weather,  and  so  on)  which  must  necessarily  be  un- 
favourable to  the  wishes  of  one  side  and  favourable 
to  the  other,  we  know  that  some  prayers  must  be 
granted  while  some  are  refused.  Who  will  attempt 
to    trace     the     proportion    between    request    and 


WORSHIP.  83 

result  ?  or  to  treat  the  influence  of  pra}'er  in  such 
matters  as  admitting  of  cither  proof  or  disproof? 

But  when  we  come  to  the  circumstances  of  each 
individual  life,  the  case  is  veiy  different.  We  do 
not  get  rid  of  mystery  even  here.  Our  knowledee, 
even  of  our  own  lives,  is  altogether  imperfect  and 
fragmentary;  but  to  pretend  to  know  no  more 
about  the  ordering  of  them  than  we  do  about  the 
universe  would  be  mere  dishonesty.  \Vc  can  trace 
a  correspondence  between  our  desires  and  their 
accomplishment  when  it  occurs  in  our  own  lives, 
such  as  it  would  be  mere  impertinence  to  try  to 
trace  between,  e.g.,  our  desires  and  the  history  of 
a  nation.  You  may  call  it  superstition  to  say,  "  I 
prayed  for  strength  and  my  request  was  granted, 
for  strength  was  given  me;"  but  you  cannot  accuse 
me  of  gross  impropriety  in  thus  associating  my 
prayer  and  the  event,  as  you  would  if  I  said,  "  I 
prayed  that  the  sun  might  rise,  and  my  request 
has  been  granted."  It  is  within  our  own  personal 
experience  that  we  must  look  for  the  answer  which 
we  can  rightly  appropriate. 

But,  then,  in  proportion  as  the  event  is  brought 
within  the  personal  sphere  of  one  individual,  it  is 
necessarily  removed  from  that  of  others.  Those  parts 
of  our  personal  and  separate  experience  of  which 
we  can  speak  freely  arc  almost  necessarily  super- 


84  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

ficial.      I  do  not  doubt  that  even  trifles  are  a  part  of 
the  Divine  language  to  individuals,  but  trifles  cannot 
with  propriety  be  appealed  to  for  the  purpose  of 
convincing    others.       Those    personal    experiences, 
on  the  other  hand,  which  are  at  once  deep  enough 
and  individual  enough  to  be  the  fittest  subjects  of 
prayer  (in  the  sense  of  special   request),  and  to  be 
met  by   responsive  "  providences  "   of  a  peculiarly 
impressive    kind,    are    almost    always   such   as,  for 
a  very  different  reason,  we  are  unable  to  mention 
with   much   freedom.     The  whole  cogency   of  the 
reasoning  which   is  rightly  conclusive   to    oneself, 
in  short,  generally  depends  upon  facts  of  personal 
feeling,  and  upon  minute  correspondences  of  events 
with  intricate  chains  of  previous   experience,  such 
as   human  language   would   fail   to    transmit,  even 
did    a    right    instinct    of    modesty    not    forbid    the 
attempt.      We    are,  therefore,   in   this   matter   very 
much    shut   up    (and   I   think   there  is  in  the  fact 
a   beautiful    fitness)    to    the     individual    and    sepa- 
rate  teaching    of  life.     I    believe  that    we    cannot 
(if  it  be  true)  too  clearly  and  unflinchingly  make 
the  assertion  that  our  private  experience  has  con- 
vinced us  of  the  reality  of  the   Divine  response  to 
prayer  ;    but  also,  that  we  cannot  be  too  cautious 
how  we  try  to  utter  such  experience  itself     Simple- 
minded  people,  who   live  much  in  the   practice  of 


WORSHIP.  85 

prayer,  and  whose  habitual  expectation  of  a  Divine 
response  is  continually  (and  to  themselves  often 
wonderfully)  fulfilled,  are  often  exposed  to  the  snare 
of  making  public  what  should  be  sacredly  kept  for 
themselves  alone,  or  at  least  shared  only  with  those 
who  "  have  ears  to  hear."  Much  mischief  is,  I  fear, 
often  done  by  the  too  free  and  ready  communication, 
especially  in  print,  of  "  remarkable  answers  to 
prayer; "  of  incidents  which, overpoweringly  eloquent 
as  they  may  well  be  to  those  whom  they  concern, 
are  but  an  idle  tale  to  strangers — a  tale  the  telling 
of  which  sometimes  lends  itself  but  too  easily  to 
the  mere  love  of  signs  and  wonders.  They  also 
often  lay  bare  the  most  painful  effects  of  unconscious 
self-importance — the  most  glaring  tendency  to  refer 
everything  to  oneself  as  the  centre,  and  to  ignore 
the  legitimate  share  of  others  in  the  events  referred 
to.  One  is  almost  inclined  to  say  of  such  stories 
that,  the  more  wonderful  they  are,  the  less  edifying 
they  are  likely  to  be. 

For  it  is  not  in  such  outward  and  tangible  events 
as  these,  not  in  the  things  which  can  be  passed  from 
hand  to  hand  like  coins,  that  the  real  power  and 
.soul-subduing  influence  of  a  Divine  communication 
is  most  unmistakably  felt.  It  is  the  still  small 
voice  which  overcomes ;  the  gentle  combination  of 
perhaps  very  ordinary  circumstances,  which,  when 


86  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

combined,  acquire  the  significance  of  a  distinct 
message.  Just  as  when  we  see  letters  brought 
together  and  placed  under  our  eyes,  which  together 
form  a  word  replying  to  our  thought,  we  infer  that 
they  have  been  so  arranged  by  some  one  who  knew 
what  Avas  in  our  minds ;  so,  to  those  of  us  who 
habitually  not  only  ask  but  watch  for  Divine 
instruction,  there  occur  again  and  again  combina- 
tions of  events,  adjustments  even  of  the  minutest 
details,  which  produce  a  quite  irresistible  sense 
that  the  finger  of  God  is  pointing  the  lesson  He 
would  have  us  learn. 

It  is  idle  to  ask  those  who  never  listen  whether 
and  how  God  answers  prayer.  The  very  possibility 
of  discerning  the  answer  implies  docility  and 
willingness  of  heart.  The  High  and  Holy  One 
that  inhabiteth  eternity  dwells  with  him  who  is 
of  an  humble  and  contrite  spirit,  and  such  only 
can  learn  to  know  His  voice. 

To  those  who  in  any  degree  do  know  His  voice, 
it  gradually  becomes  clear  that  prayer  and  its 
answer  are  inseparable.  The  answer  is  as  the 
answer  of  the  atmosphere  to  the  lungs,  of  light  to 
the  eyes.  The  humble  and  contrite  heart  opens  its 
doors  to  its  Maker,  and  is  filled  with  His  presence. 
Then,  indeed,  the  light  shines  within ;  then  the 
very  breath  of  our  life  is  breathed  into  us  by  the 


WORSHIP.  87 

Spirit  of  God.  Inspiration — the  inbreathing  power 
from  above,  by  whicli  alone  all  that  is  heavenly  in 
us  is  brought  about, — this  is  the  other  aspect  of 
worship. 

True  worship,  therefore,  implies  inspiration.  It 
is  the  inspired  prayer  which  transfigures  life  — 
which  is  mighty  with  the  might  of  the  Fountain 
from  whence  it  flows.  While  we  separate  worship 
and  inspiration  we  can  never  think  worthily  of 
either.  I  do  indeed  believe  that  the  very  desire  of 
our  heart  is  often  granted  to  us  in  reply  to  our 
petition.  I  do  not  venture  to  speak  confidently 
as  to  the  precise  relation  of  cause  and  effect  which 
may  exist  between  any  petition  and  its  fulfilment. 
There  must,  I  believe,  be  some  such  real  relation ; 
but  to  my  own  mind  it  often  seems  more  probable 
and  more  reverent  to  suppose,  where  the  corre- 
spondence is  very  marked,  that  the  prayer  has 
been  in  the  nature  of  a  prophetic  utterance,  of  a 
Divine  foreshadowing,  than  that  our  wish  should 
have  been  allowed  to  become  the  efficient  cause 
of  the  Divine  action.  A  prayer  which  has  been 
answered  by  the  perfect  fulfilment  of  its  requests 
shows,  I  believe,  that  the  offerer  of  it  was  so  far 
under  Divine  influence ;  that  his  will  was  to  that 
extent  at  least  in  harmony  with  the  Divine  will. 
This  is  a  word  of  blessed  cncouracrement  for  the 


'88  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

one  to  whom  it  comes,  which  it  is  not  always  wise 
or  right  to  proclaim  from  the  housetop.  "  Upliftings 
unto  prayer  "  (to  quote  one  more  of  the  deep  words 
of  A.  H.  Clough)  are  surely  among  the  sacred  things 
of  which  we  should  not  lightly  lift  the  veil.  I  do 
not  think  that  those  who  have  any  true  and  deep 
experience  of  what  it  is  to  hold  communion,  how- 
ever faltering  and  intermittent,  with  our  God  will 
be  forward  to  attempt  to  divest  it  of  its  mystery, 
while  yet  they  must  earnestly  desire  to  set  forth 
to  others  what  they  have  learnt  of  its  power  and 
its  blessedness.  For  the  sake  of  the  many  who 
honestly  desire  to  know  the  truth  upon  this  deepest 
and  most  urgent  of  all  common  interests,  I  think 
that  we  who  have  some  such  experience  are  bound 
to  seek  to  clothe  it  in  fit  and  worthy  language. 

Let  us,  therefore,  recognize  and  avow,  when 
occasion  serves,  that  prayer,  w^orship,  or  communion 
with  God  is  a  larger,  deeper,  fuller  thing  than  mere 
asking  and  having.  Let  us  acknowledge  that  the 
simplest  and  most  inarticulate  cry  for  help  —  the 
voice  of  the  "  infant  crying  in  the  night,  and  with 
no  language  but  a  cry" — is  as  sure  to  enter  the  ear 
of  the  Father  of  spirits  as  the  deepest  prayer  ever 
uttered  by  saint  or  martyr.  Let  us  remember  that, 
according  to  the  teaching  of  our  Lord  Himself,  the 
one  voice  which  is  more  sure  (if  degrees  of  sure- 


WORSHIP.  89 

ness  there  can  be;  than  any  other  of  being  Hstcncd 
to  by  the  good  Shepherd,  is  the  voice  of  the  one 
who  has  strayed  the  furthest  from  the  fold,  and  is 
the  most  deeply  conscious  of  being  afar  off — the 
voice  of  the  lost  sheep  over  whose  first  turning 
towards  home  the  ver}^  angels  in  heaven  rejoice 
with  a  special  joy.  But  let  us  never  forget  that 
in  the  homeward  path  there  are  heights  beyond 
heights ;  that  as  an_v  spirit  is  drawn  upwards  by 
the  Father's  love  and  care,  it  becomes  more  and 
more  filled  with  the  light  of  His  countenance,  more 
interpenetrated  by  that  light  which  shines  clearest 
in  the  dark  places  through  which  every  upward- 
tending  spirit  must  assuredly  pass.  Let  us  not 
forget  that  the  reward  of  faithfulness  in  that  which 
is  least  is  the  call  to  enter  into  that  which  is  greater 
— deeper  and  higher  and  fuller  of  Divine  signi- 
ficance ;  that  those  "  influences  of  the  Divine 
presence "  to  which  it  is  the  essence  of  true 
worship  to  "  yield  ourselves  "  must  penetrate  into 
the  inmost  recesses  of  our  being,  and  bring  every 
thought  into  subjection  to  the  law  of  Christ — that 
law  of  the  Spirit  of  life,  by  which  all  that  is  of  the 
flesh  is  gradually  purged  away  as  by  a  consuming 
fire — and  that  to  live  in  the  spirit  of  prayer  is  to 
live  more  and  more  continually  and  intimately  in 
the  presence  of  Him  before  whom  the  angels  veil 


go  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

their  faces,  and  who  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to 
behold  iniquity.  So  that  it  may  well  be,  or  rather 
it  can  only  be,  in  fear  and  in  trembling  that 
this  wonderful  salvation  of  entrance  into  His  pre- 
sence can  be  worked  out.  The  prayers  which 
are  owned  by  Him  are  not  prayers  which  can  be 
offered  in  the  will  of  man,  or  which  can  be  used  as 
a  means  of  gratifying  the  desires  of  the  flesh  or  of 
the  reason;  they  are  the  breathings  of  the  spirit 
struggling  to  return  to  Him  who  gave  it,  or  rejoic- 
ing in  the  light  of  His  countenance.  The  spirit 
which  is  being  made  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and 
death  cannot  look  backwards  towards  the  things 
of  earth.  Its  path  is  onwards  and  upwards,  ever 
"into  light,"  and  its  breathings  are  the  vibrations 
communicated  to  it  from  the  Source  and  Centre  of 
light ;  they  obey  a  law  as  unchangeable  as  the 
laws  of  light  itself,  and  their  function  is  to  destroy 
and  to  consume  away  the  perishing,  worn-out 
raiment  of  the  spirit,  to  free  it  from  defilements 
and  hindrances,  and  to  bring  it  forth  in  the  fulness 
of  time  "into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children 
of  God,"  the  rightful  "  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light."  Surely  we  may  with  reverence  say  that,  in 
a  true  and  a  deep  sense,  God  Himself  is  the  Answer 
to  prayer. 


(    91     ) 


CHAPTER   IV. 

FREE    MINISTRY. 

Our   ministry  may  be  said  to  be  free   in   several 
distinct  senses. 

1 .  It  is  open  to  all. 

2.  Its  exercise  is  not  subject  to  any  pre-arrange- 
ment. 

3.  It  is  not  paid. 

We  believe  that  the  one  essential  qualification 
for  the  office  of  a  minister  is  the  anointing  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  and  that  this  anointing  is  poured  out 
without  respect  of  persons  upon  men  and  women, 
upon  old  and  young,  upon  learned  and  unlearned. 
The  gift  is,  we  believe,  a  purely  spiritual  one,  as  much 
beyond  our  control  as  the  rain  from  heaven ;  yet  as 
unfailing,  as  abundant,  as  necessary  to  fertility. 

Our  views  of  this  matter  differ  from  those  of 
other  Christians,  not  in  the  fact  that  we  recognize 
the  free  gift  of  this  holy  anointing,  not  even  in 
the  fact  that  we  repudiate  the  idea  of  its  being 
purchasable  by  money,  but   in    the  fact   that  our 


92  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

idea  of  ministry  refers  exclusively  to  the  offering 
of  spontaneous  spiritual  ministrations.  All  would 
surely  agree  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  to 
offer  acceptable  prayer,  or  to  sow  in  other  hearts 
the  living  seed  of  the  kingdom,  without  a  distinct 
gift  from  above.  It  is  obvious  that  we  cannot  give 
what  we  have  not  received.  It  is  also  surely  un- 
deniable that  what  we  have  freely  received  we 
should  freely  give ;  that  the  gift  of  God  cannot  be 
bought  for  money,  nor  restricted  in  its  exercise  to 
humanly  prepared  channels.  No  one  who  believes 
in  the  reality  of  the  gift  of  "  prophecy  " — of  speak- 
ing, that  is,  from  the  immediate  promptings  of  the 
Spirit  of  Truth — would  dare  to  seek  either  to 
purchase  or  to  restrain  such  utterances.  "Where 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty."  Our 
doctrine  of  a  free  ministry,  of  course,  supposes  a 
real  belief  in  the  continual  inbreathing  of  that 
Divine  Spirit,  giving  both  light  and  utterance 
through  His  own  chosen  vessels  for  the  help  of  all. 
It  also  goes  a  step  further,  and  regards  such 
spiritual  ministrations  as  all-sufficient.  Here  is 
the  real  point  of  divergence  between  us  and  our 
fellow-Christians.  The  vast  majority  of  them 
regard  something  more  than  these  purely  spiritual 
ministrations  as  essential  to  a  full  allegiance  to 
our  common  Lord. 


FREE  MLMSTRY.  93 

Other  Christian  bodies  have  from  ver\'  early 
times  recognized  a  distinction  between  clergy  and 
lait)',  and  have  regarded  at  least  two  sacraments 
as  having  been  instituted  by  Christ  Himself,  and 
as  being  in  some  sense  or  other  "  necessary  to 
salvation ; "  and  the  greater  number,  or  at  any 
rate  the  largest,  of  these  bodies  have  habituall\- 
adopted  the  use  of  liturgical  forms  of  public 
worship. 

At  the  root  of  our  abstinence  from  all  these 
generally  accepted  practices,  there  lies  the  one 
conviction  of  the  all-sufficiency  of  individual  and 
immediate  communication  with  the  Father  of  our 
spirits ;  and  a  profound  belief  that  by  His  coming 
in  the  flesh  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  did,  in  fact,  open 
a  new  and  living  way  of  access  to  God,  which 
superseded  and  blotted  out  the  former  dispensation 
of  rites  and  ceremonies,  investing  all  believers  with 
the  function  of  "  kings  and  priests  "  (calling  them, 
that  is,  both  to  exercise  dominion  and  to  offer 
acceptable  sacrifices  in  His  name),  and  enabling 
them  to  show  forth  the  nature  and  results  of  that 
worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  which  was  no  longer 
to  be  in  any  sense  confined  to  temples  made  with 
hands,  and  of  that  kingdom  which  is  "  not  meat  and 
drink,  but  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost." 


94  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

It  was  a  bold  thing  indeed  for  the  early  Friends 
to-  break  loose  at  once  from  the  whole  ecclesiastical 
system,  with  its  venerable  and  long-established 
claim  to  be  the  divinely  ordained  channel  of 
spiritual  nutriment.  In  doing  so,  they  no  doubt 
took  up  an  attitude  of  hostility  towards  the  "  hire- 
ling priests,"  and  their  "  steeple-houses  "  and  "  so- 
called  ordinances,"  which,  however  comparatively 
intelligible  it  may  have  been  at  the  time,  was  yet 
not  only  highly  obnoxious,  but  would  even  seem 
to  have  led  them  into  some  degree  of  injustice. 

After  sixty  or  seventy  years  of  severe  persecution, 
however,  borne  with  extraordinary  patience  as  well 
as  constancy,  their  right  to  carry  out  their  own 
manner*  of  worship  was  fully  allowed  ;  and  by  a 
strange  result  of  changes,  partly  within  the  Society 
itself  and  partly  in  the  surrounding  mental  atmo- 
sphere. Friends,  from  being  regarded  as  peculiarly 
pestilent  heretics,  came  to  be  looked  on  as  the  most 
harmless  and  least  obnoxious  of  Nonconformists. 
I  believe,  however,  that  this  can  be  the  case  only 
as  long  as  we  are  content  to  acquiesce  in  a  purely 
passive  and  dwindling  state.  Any  attempt  to 
promulgate  our  peculiar  views  must  necessarily  give 
offence.  We  may,  perhaps,  no  longer  think  it  a  duty 
to  denounce  the  institution  of  a  separate  clergy, 
and    the   observance  of  "  so-called  ordinances,"  as 


FREE  MINISTRY.  v5 

positively  unlawful  or  sinful.  But  to  say  plainh' 
that  we  consider  them  as  superfluous,  requires 
hard!}'  less  boldness,  and  is  scarcely  likely  to  be 
more  palatable.  The  fact,  however,  cannot  be 
disguised;  and  in  spite  of  the  pain  which,  in  these 
days  of  free  and  lively  interchange  of  sympathy,  is 
involved  in  taking  up  any  clear  ground  of  separa- 
tion, no  true  Friend  would  desire  in  the  slightest 
degree  to  disguise  or  to  veil  our  ancient  testimony 
against  outward  observances  and  their  accompany- 
ing institution  of  a  paid  ministry. 

It  is,  however,  a  great  help  in  doing  so  to  be 
able  to  point  to  the  very  remarkable  fact  of  the 
existence  during  more  than  two  centuries  of  a 
body  of  people  whose  lives  bear  abundant  witness 
to  the  reality  of  their  Christian  profession,  amongst 
whom  these  "ordinances"  have  been  altogether 
disused. 

For  my  own  part,  I  would  rather  leave  that  fact 
to  speak  for  itself  than  attempt  to  trace  all  the 
inferences  which  may,  I  think,  be  fairly  drawn 
from  it.  Yet  the  question  whether  the  clerical 
and  sacramental  system  is  indeed  an  essential  part 
of  Christianity,  or  a  human  accretion,  is  too  pro- 
foundly important  to  the  future  of  Christianity 
itself  to  be  lightly  passed  over.  Are  there  not 
many,  in  these  days  especially,  who  would  willingly 


96  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

listen  to  the  Christianity  of  Christ  Himself,  could 
they  but  find  it  disentangled  from  the  enor- 
mously "  developed  "  Christianity  of  the  dominant 
Churches  ? 

am  far  from  venturing  to  claim  that  the 
Society  of  Friends  does  actually  exhibit  a  perfect 
living  instance  of  what  has  been  called  "  primitive 
Christianity  revived,"  but  I  do  believe  its  ideal 
to  be  the  true,  and  the  only  true  one ;  that  of  a 
Church,  or  "  gathered  people,"  living  with  the  one 
object  of  obeying  the  teaching  of  Christ  Himself  to 
the  very  uttermost — His  own  teaching,  not  that  of 
those  who  have  spoken  in  His  name,  even  though 
they  be  apostles,  except  in  so  far  as  they  speak  in 
accordance  with  it.  To  live  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  and  the  rest  of  the  gospel  teaching,  and  in 
all  things  to  listen  for  the  living  voice  of  the  good 
Shepherd,  watching  constantly  that  no  human 
tradition  divert  our  attention  from  it, — this  is  our 
acknowledged  aim  and  bond  of  union  as  a  Society. 
Our  conviction  of  its  sufficiency  is  the  ground  of 
our  existence  as  a  separate  body. 

We  believe  that  neither  the  division  of  Christian 
people  into  clergy  and  laity,  nor  the  use  of  sacra- 
mental ceremonies,  were  enjoined  by  Christ  Him- 
self It  is  clear  that  both  these  practices  quickly 
arose  amongst  the  early  Christians ;    but  remem- 


FREE  MIXISTRY.  97 

bering  that  the  early  Christians  were  but  fallible 
human  beings  like  ourselves,  and  that  they  were 
undeniably  far  from  clear  what  rites  and  cere- 
monies were  to  be  observed,  we  do  not  feel  that 
their  practice  is  to  be  our  guide. 

The  institution  of  a  separate  clergy  and  that  of 
the  sacraments  form,  of  course,  essentially  one 
system.  The  early  Friends  went  to  the  root  of 
the  matter  when  they  abandoned  at  once  the 
whole  of  what  they  called  "  mountain  and 
Jerusalem  worship,"  as  opposed  to  the  worship 
in  spirit  and  in  truth,  which  is  not  limited  to  any 
time  or  place. 

I  have  not  the  slightest  intention  of  taking  upon 
myself  the  attempt  to  show  that  they  were  right 
in  doing  so.  The  grounds  of  their  action  are  fully 
set  forth  and  defended  with  undeniable  vigour  and 
ability  by  Robert  Barclay,  in  his  famous  "Apology." 
My  humbler  endeavour  will  be  to  describe  the 
perplexities  which  prepared  my  own  mind  thank- 
fully to  accept  what  to  myself  appears  to  be  a 
thoroughly  satisfactory  disentanglement  of  essential 
Christianity  from  whatever  can  be  honestly  regarded 
as  unintelligible,  and  unworthy  of  its  lofty  and 
spiritual  character. 

I  must  own  at  the  outset  that  I  have  never  been 
able  clearly  to  understand  the  grounds  upon  which 


98  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

the  "  ordinances "  in  question  are  regarded  as 
essential  parts  of  Christianity,  nor  have  I  ever 
found  it  possible  to  arrive  at  a  thoroughly  satis- 
factory explanation  of  their  precise  (supposed) 
effects.  I  am,  of  course,  not  ignorant  of  the 
general  nature  of  those  grounds  or  supposed 
results.  But  a  broad  space  of  obscurity  seems  to 
separate  the  actual  transactions  out  of  which  the 
"  ordinances  "  arose  from  the  earliest  known  records 
of  the  institutions  themselves ;  and  it  is  notorious 
that  theologians  differ  very  widely  in  their  views 
of  the  spiritual  results  produced  either  by  ordi- 
nation or  by  a  due  participation  in  the  sacraments, 
and  also  of  the  conditions  necessary  to  their 
"validity." 

It  is  here  that  the  practical  pinch  of  the  system 
is  felt.  Were  the  matter  one  of  purely  speculative 
interest,  how  gladly  would  I  and  other  unlearned 
people  have  left  it  in  the  hands  of  those  better 
qualified  to  deal  with  it !  But  it  is  a  question  of 
urgent  practical  importance,  which,  as  regards  at 
least  one  of  the  sacraments,  no  devout  person  can 
escape.  Every  adult  member  of  the  Church 
of  England  (every  one,  that  is,  who  is  so  in 
a  religious  sense)  is  confronted  with  .  a  solemn 
challenge  to  do,  or  to  leave  undone  at  his  peril, 
an  act  involving  vast  and  mysterious  consequences 


FREE  MINISTRY.  99 

for  good  or  for  evil  to  his  spiritual  welfare.  No 
middle  course  is  possible,  and  the  Church  Prayer- 
book  promises  no  safety  either  in  its  performance 
or  omission.  To  "partake  unworthily"  is  repre- 
sented as  involving  vague  and  awful  dangers — 
dangers  possibly,  though  not  clearly,  greater  than 
those  which  would  be  incurred  by  omitting  an  act 
"  generally  necessary  to  salvation."  But  how  to  be 
sure  of  partaking  worthily  ?  "A  true  penitent 
heart  and  lively  faith  ...  a  lively  and  steadfast 
faith  in  Christ  our  Saviour  .  .  .  and  perfect  charity 
with  all  men," — if  these  are  the  necessary  pre- 
parations for  being  "  meet  partakers  of  these  holy 
mysteries,"  failing  in  which  we  do  but  "eat  and 
drink  our  own  damnation"  by  venturing  to  par- 
take of  them,  is  it  any  wonder  if  the  troubled  heart 
is  held  in  a  state  of  continual  uneasiness,  and 
shrinks  almost  equally  from  the  act  and  from  its 
omission  ? 

Such,  at  least,  was  my  own  painful  and  long- 
continued  experience.  The  injunction  to  "  ex- 
amine one's  self"  as  a  safeguard  against  unworthy 
participation  did  but  increase  the  perplexity  and 
distress.  For  how  can  self-examination  fail  to 
increase  the  sense  of  unworthiness  ?  and  how  is  it 
possible  for  any  one  to  imagine  himself  competent 
to  be  judge  in  his  own  case? 


loo  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

I  do  not   forget   that   the   Prayer-book  suggests 
(not   to    say  prescribes)    a    refuge  from  such  per- 
plexities  in  an  application  to  "some  discreet  and 
learned  minister  of  God's  Word  "  for  "  absolution, 
and  ghostly  counsel  and  advice."     I   quite  recog- 
nize  the    consistency    of    this    suggestion,    which 
seems     to     me     to    confirm    the    obvious    remark 
already  made,  that  the  sacerdotal  and  sacramental 
system    hangs    together,  and  must  be  adopted  or 
rejected    as    a   whole.     In    my  own    case.    Protes- 
tantism  was  too  strong  to  allow  of  my  accepting 
this  legitimate  corollary  of  the  Church  of  England 
doctrine  respecting  the  Lord's  Supper.     To  have 
recourse  to  confession  and  absolution  was  an  im- 
possibility to  me,  as  I  believe  it  to  be  even  yet  to 
the    great   majority    of  Englishwomen,   and   as    it 
is    assuredly  likely  always    to  be  to   Englishmen. 
But  I  doubt  whether  any  satisfactory  resting-place 
short  of  it  is  to  be  found  for  those  who  fully  adopt 
the  Anglican  view  of  sacraments. 

I  do  not  mean  to  represent  the  perplexities  and 
scruples  I  have  spoken  of  as  having  constituted 
the  whole  of  my  experience  in  this  matter,  or  to 
say  that  I  was  quite  unable  to  meet  them  in  a 
manner  more  or  less  provisionally  satisfactory  to 
myself  It  is  true  that  out  of  perplexities  and 
scruples    sprang   doubts    and     questionings    (with 


FREE  MINISTRY.  loi 

which,  indeed,  the  very  air  I  breathed  was  thick), 
so  that  during  the  twenty  years  in  which  I  was 
a  regular  communicant  in  the  Church  of  England, 
I  was  never  able  to  feel  that  my  own  practice  was 
based  upon  thoroughly  clear  and  solid  ground  of 
ascertained  truth.  Yet  in  spite  of,  or  rather  along- 
side of,  all  scruples  and  questionings  as  to  the  real 
intention  of  our  Lord — if,  indeed.  He  had  any 
intention  at  all — with  regard  to  any  special  com- 
memoration of  His  death  by  the  use  of  bread  and 
wine,  I  did  earnestly,  throughout  those  years, 
according  to  the  measure  of  my  ability,  endeavour 
to  solve  the  problem  in  practice — to  make  the  act 
of  outward  "communion"  a  real  occasion  of  re- 
newed self-dedication,  and  of  inward  and  spiritual 
feeding  on  the  bread  of  life.  Such  times  were, 
indeed,  often  occasions  of  deep  spiritual  blessing ; 
but  I  never  could  discern  that  they  were  so  in  any 
other  sense  than  that  in  which  every  real  act  of 
prayer,  of  penitence,  of  self-dedication,  and  of 
thanksgiving  must  necessarily  be  so.  The  whole 
blessing  appeared  to  me  to  be  of  a  spiritual  kind, 
and  due  to  spiritual  causes.  The  connection  be- 
tween the  use  of  bread  and  wine  and  these  spiritual 
sources  of  blessing  never  became  clear  to  me.  The 
more  profound  the  blessedness  of  communion  with 
Christ  and  witli    His   people,  the  less   conceivable 


I02  Quaker  strongholds. 

did  it  seem  that  it  should  depend  upon  the  official 
performance  of  an  elaborate  rite. 

The  Bible,  to  which  in  this  Protestant  country 
we  are  always  referred  for  the  solution  of  the  diffi- 
culties as  to  which  Catholics  consult  their  priests, 
appeared  to  me  to  afford  no  help  whatever  in 
defining  the  conditions  necessary  to  a  right  par- 
ticipation, nor  in  directing  one's  choice  between 
the  various  sacramental  theories  to  be  met  with  in 
our  days.  All  schools  of  theology  equally  appeal 
to  it,  and  it  is  obvious  that  a  book  cannot  decide 
between  rival  interpretations  of  -itself  It  did, 
however,  distinctly  help  me  towards  the  conclusion 
that  there  might  be  no  need  to  choose  between 
these  various  theories  at  all.  To  my  unassisted 
reason  it  appeared  that  the  effect  of  comparing  any, 
even  the  mildest,  modern  eucharistical  theory  with 
the  accounts  to  be  found  in  the  New  Testament 
of  our  Lord's  parting  supper  with  his  disciples,  was 
chiefly  to  show  that  a  vast  and  unexplained  addi- 
tion to,  or  at  the  least  development  of,  the  original 
idea  had  taken  place  since  these  accounts  were 
written.  The  whole  form  of  words  used  in  the 
Communion  Service  seems  to  me  to  convey  mean- 
ings almost  immeasurably  difierent  from  anything 
which  I  could  myself  have  extracted  from  the  one 
brief  expression,  "  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me." 


FREE  MINISTRY.  103 

Left  to  myself  and  to  Scripture,  the   Gospel  narra- 
tives would  never  have  suggested  the  idea  of  any 
intention  to  institute  a  ceremony  at  all,  far  less  to 
invest    its    obser\'ance    with    possibilities  so    awful 
both  for   good   and   for  evil,    not  only   in   case  of 
omission,  but  even  in  case    of  inadequate  observ- 
ance.    To    my    own    mind,  the   narratives    of  the 
Last  Supper  in  Matthew  and  Mark,  which  contain 
no  allusion  to  any  possible  repetition  of  the  feast, 
appeared  quite  as  complete,  quite  as  significant,  as 
that  of  Luke,  which  gives  the  addition,  "  Do  this 
in    remembrance    of  me."       The  allusions    in   the 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  to  some  disorderly  prac- 
tices  in  that   Church  certainly  make  it  clear  that 
they  had  adopted  a  practice  of  meeting  to  "  show 
the  Lord's  death  till   He  come"  by  eating  bread 
and  drinking  wine ;    and  the  apostle's  reference  to 
a    Divine    communication    to  himself  of    the    cir- 
cumstances   of  the    Last   Supper   certainly    seems 
to  show  that  he  believed  them  to  have  sufficient 
ground  for  doing  so  ;  but,  on  th^  other  hand,  the 
words  which  he  there  ascribes  to  Christ,  "  Do  this, 
as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me,"  have 
always  seemed  to  me  to  be  distinctly  incompatible 
with    the    idea   of  a   command    to  eat  bread  and 
drink  wine  in  order  to   commemorate    His   death, 
and  would  rather  suggest  a  reverent  remembrance 


I04  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

of  Him  on  all  social  occasions,  and  perhaps 
especially  when  meeting  for  the  Passover  or  any 
other  religious  feasts.  I  was  thus  fully  ripe  for 
the  view  so  vigorously  put  forth  in  Barclay's 
"  Apology,"  *  as  held  by  Friends. 

I  have  allowed  my  thoughts  to  fall  into  a  some- 
what autobiographical  form,  because  the  appear- 
ance of  egotism  seems  to  me  preferable  to  the  real 
presumption  of  going  beyond  one's  knowledge, 
and  also  because  I  am  anxious  to  show  how 
unavoidably  (and  at  the  same  time,  I  believe,  in- 
nocently) one  may  become  entangled  in  questions 
too  deep  and  too  perplexing  for  ordinary  minds,  in 
the  mere  honest  endeavour  to  obey  at  once  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  the  Church. 

To  myself  it  was  the  greatest  relief,  at  a  time 
when  I  had  thus  been  driven  to  choose  between 
obedience  to  my  own  conscience  on  the  one  hand, 
and  outward  communion  with  my  fellow-Christians 
on  the  other,  and  when  I  had  for  two  years,  with 
pain  and  grief,  ex,communicated  myself  accordingly 
— it  was  at  that  moment  the  greatest  relief  to  find 
a  body  of  Christians  who  held  the  simple,  and,  to 
my  mind,  the  one  worthy  view  of  Christianity,  as 
a  dispensation  entirely  spiritual  in  its  nature;  a 
state  of  enlightenment  and  true  worship  in  which 

*  "Apology,"  Prop.  xiii. 


FREE  MIXISTRY.  105 

forms  and  shadows  had  passed  away,  and  the 
substance  alone  was  to  be  laboured  for.  It  was  in 
the  quiet  meetings  already  described  that  I  myself 
first  learnt  the  full  meaning  of  the  words,  "baptizing 
into  the  Name  .  .  .  and  the  communion  of  the 
body  of  Christ."  The  outward  observances  by 
which  these  "  holy  mysteries "  are  typified  in  the 
devotions  of  other  bodies  had  been  to  me  rather 
a  hindrance  than  a  help.  I  cannot  help  suspecting 
that  they  are  so  to  many. 

For  if  not  a  help,  they  must  be  a  hindrance.  It 
may,  to  people  in  some  stages  of  education,  or 
in  some  countries,  be  a  natural  and  real  way  of 
receiving  or  expressing  truth,  to  perform  ceremonial 
acts.  I  cannot  think  that  it  is  the  spontaneous 
language  of  intelligent  devotion  in  our  own  time 
and  countr}\  To  my  own  mind  the  great  crowning 
lesson  imparted  by  our  Divine  Master,  in  the  solemn 
farewell  hours  of  His  last  evening  with  His  disciples, 
is  lowered  and  eclipsed  when  considered  as  the 
institution  of  a  ceremony,  and  shines  out  again  in 
its  fulness  of  majestic  pathos  when  regarded  as 
an  embodied  or  acted  parable.  His  repeated 
warnings  to  His  disciples  against  their  inveterate 
tendency  to  take  His  words  literally,  and  to  inter- 
pret them  as  referring  to  the  meat  that  perishes 
instead  of  as  being  spirit  and  life,  sound  in  one's 


io6  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

ears  when  one  feels  oppressed  by  what  (forgive  me 
the  irrepressible  truth)  to  some  of  us  seems  the 
unintelligent  practice  of  continually  repeating  a 
form  used  by  Christ  once  for  all  to  show  forth  the 
central  truth  of  His  life-giving  life  on  earth. 

It  is  the  fear  that,  in  wrapping  the  "  words  of 
eternal  life  "  in  a  garment  of  superstitious  usage, 
they  are  being  inevitably  buried  out  of  the  reach 
of  those  who  need  them  the  most,  which  prompts 
me  to  speak  thus  boldly.  Whatever  lowers  our 
religion  to  a  matter  of  outward  observance,  what- 
ever seems  to  give  to  unreasoning  participation  in 
outward  acts  a  place  on  the  same  level  with  that 
inw^ard  continuance  in  the  Word  of  Christ  which 
makes  His  disciples  free,  is  surely  a  human  and  a 
grievous  barrier  in  the  homeward  path  which  He 
came  to  open  to  all. 

Those  who  feel  as  we  do  about  the  meaning  of 
our  Lord  on  the  occasion  of  His  last  supper  with 
His  disciples,  will  naturally  incline  to  take  a  similar 
view  of  His  meaning  in  the  few  references  made 
by  Him  to  the  subject  of  baptism.  The  word  is 
obviously  used  in  the  New  Testament  in  several 
different  senses.  If  we  believe  (as  is  at  least 
suggested  by  the  words  of  the  Apostle  Paul)  that 
there  is  but  "  one  baptism,"  we  must  surely  suppose 
it  to  be  that  baptism  "  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and 


FREE  MINISTRY.  107 

with  fire  "  which  John  foretold  as  the  office  (.^{  Him 
for  whom  he  himself,  with  his  "baptism  with  water," 
was  preparing  the  way; — He  who  was  to  increase 
as  John  decreased,  and  who  said  of  Himself,  after 
He  had  "  fulfilled  all  righteousness  "  by  submitting 
to  John's  baptism,  that  He  had  yet  "a  baptism  to 
be  baptized  •  with  " — assuredly  not  an  outward 
one. 

With  the  observance  ot  rites  and  ceremonies,  the 
need  for  a  separate  priesthood  passes  away.  It  is, 
I  belie\'e,  undisputed  that  the  word  "priest"  is 
used  in  the  New  Testament  only  with  reference  to 
the  high  calling  of  all  believers  ;  the  calling  to  offer 
themselves  as  living  sacrifices,  holy,  acceptable  to 
God. 

It  appears  to  us  that  this  priestly  office  of  all 
believers  is  greatly  obscured,  and  the  sense  of 
religious  responsibility  weakened,  by  the  delegation 
to  a  separate  and  official  class  of  persons  of  the 
function  of  conducting  the  devotions  of  the  congre- 
gation. The  exclusive  employment  of  one  man 
as  spokesman  for  the  whole  congregation  must  of 
necessity  quench  in  others  any  impulse  to  offer 
vocal  ministrations,  at  any  rate  during  the  time  of 
public  worship  ;  and  in  regard  to  daily  life,  the  idea 
of  a  "  cure  of  souls "  .seems  equally  inconsistent 
with    the    Quaker    idea    of    "  watching    over    one 


io8  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

another  for  good,"  as  being  a  duty  resting  more  or 
less  on  all  the  members  of  a  meeting. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  other  Church  ofnces 
besides  the  essentially  priestly  one  of  offering  the 
sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  which  are 
fulfilled,  and  often  nobly  fulfilled,  by  the  clergy  of 
the  Church  of  England.  These  other  offices,  such 
as  teaching,  visiting  the  sick,  attending  to  the 
relief  of  the  poor,  etc.,  are  surely  in  no  way  inse- 
parable, though  they  are  popularly  undistinguished, 
from  that  claim  to  the  priesthood  against  which 
Friends  have  always  protested.  It  may  be  an 
open  question  whether  all  the  civilizing,  softening, 
philanthropic,  and  beneficent  influences  exercised 
by  the  clergy  could  be  brought  to  bear  with  equal 
effect  upon  the  population,  especially  of  country 
districts,  if  the  idea  of  an  essential  distinction 
between  them  and  the  laity  were  suddenly 
obliterated.  The  question  what  would  be  the 
practical  result  of  such  an  obliteration,  or,  in  other 
words,  of  the  adoption  of  Friends'  principle  of  a 
free  ministry,  is  at  any  rate  scarcely  within  the 
visible  horizon.  It  would  certainly  be  impossible 
to  any  candid  person  in  these  days  to  speak  without 
respect  and  admiration  of  the  clergy  generally, 
and  without  deep  reverence  of  many  amongst  them. 
The  diiys  are  long  past  when  such  phrases  as  a 


FREE  .\  fix  IS  TRY.  109 

"  hireling  ministry "  could  hav^e  been  indiscrimi- 
nately used  concerning  a  body  of  men  whose  lives 
arc  in  innumerable  instances  so  visibh-  and  nobly 
disinterested.  It  is  an  obvious,  though  too  common 
mistake,  to  confound  the  conditions  of  any  service 
with  the  motives  from  which  it  is  undertaken.  But 
it  is  nevertheless  a  very  grave  question  what  effect 
the  fact  that  ordination  to  the  clerical  office  opens 
to  any  young  man  of  ordinary  abilities  and 
respectability  the  gates  of  an  honourable  profession, 
by  which  he  may  lawfully  earn  his  bread  and 
maintain  a  family,  is  likely  to  have  upon  the 
spiritual  character  of  the  ministerial  office.  Surely 
the  Quaker  principle  that  no  spiritual  ministrations 
should  ever  be  subject  to  payment  is  at  least  one 
that  must  commend  itself  as  ideally  the  highest. 
It  may,  however,  xo-xy  naturally  be  asked  whether 
in  practice  it  admits  of  a  sufficient  provision  being 
made  for  the  instruction  and  edification  of  congre- 
gations. 

And  here  there  is,  of  course,  a  deep-seated 
divergence  of  feeling  and  thought  at  the  bottom  of 
the  difference  in  practice  between  Friends  and 
other  Christian  bodies.  We  Friends  believe  that 
it  is  not  necessary  that  each  congregation  shouk' 
be  placed  under  the  spiritual  care  of  a  pastor.  We 
believe  that  it  is  the  right  and  the  duty  of  each 


no  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

individual  Christian  to  approach  the  Divine 
presence  in  his  own  way — to  sit  under  the 
immediate  teaching  of  Christ  Himself,  and  to  be 
ready  to  take  his  share,  if  at  any  time  called  upon 
by  the  one  Head  of  the  Church,  in  offering  prayer, 
praise,  thanksgiving,  or  exhortation,  for  the  help, 
comfort,  and  edification  of  all.  Should  no  vocal 
services  be  offered  in  any  meeting,  we  do  not 
therefore  feel  that  it  has  failed  of  its  effect  as  an 
occasion  of  united  worship. 

Some  small  meetings  are  frequently,  if  not 
habitually,  held  entirely  in  silence;  in  all  our 
meetings  there  is  some  space  left  for  that  worship 
which  is  beyond  words.  The  responsibility  for  the 
lively  and  healthy  state  of  each  meeting  is,  or  should 
be,  felt  to  rest  upon  all  its  members,  both  collec- 
tively and  individually. 

It  is  obvious  that  a  ministry  so  jealously  guarded 
as  ours  from  all  external  pressure  can  be  kept 
in  vigorous  exercise  only  as  the  result  of  a  deep 
and  widely  diffused  religious  experience.  Serious, 
though  by  no  means  insuperable,  difficulties  do 
undoubtedly  arise  in  the  practical  application  of 
this  fundamental  principle  of  our  Society.  Our 
faithfulness  to  it  is  being  severely  tested  by  modern 
conditions  ;  and  upon  that  faithfulness  our  very 
life  as  a  Society  must,  I  believe,  depend.     There  is 


FREE  MINISTRY.  iii 

in  the  comparatively  aggressive  attitude  we  have 
assumed  of  late  years,  as  well  as  in  the  great  pres- 
sure upon  time  and  strength  exerted  by  modern 
acti\ities  of  all  kinds,  a  constant  teniptation  to 
adopt  methods  less  pure,  less  severely  disinterested, 
than  those  to  which  we  are  pledged  by  all  our 
traditions.  Unless  we  have  faith  and  patience 
enough  to  maintain  the  freedom  of  our  ministry 
even  at  the  cost  of  some  sacrifice  of  popularity,  I 
believe  that  our  light  must  inevitably  be  extin- 
guished just  when  it  is  most  urgently  needed.* 

The  admission  of  the  ministry  of  women  seems 
naturally  to  flow  from  the  disuse  of  all  but 
spontaneous  spiritual  ministrations.  For  such 
ministrations  experience  shows  women  to  be  often 
eminently  qualified. 

The  whole  of  the  Quaker  view  of  ministry 
depends  upon  the  frank  disregard  of  outward  and 
visible  signs  in  favour  of  the  inward  and  spiritual 
grace.  To  make  both  essential,  or  each  essential 
to  the  other,  seems  necessarily  to  land  one  in 
impenetrable  intricacies,  if  not  in  a  vicious  circle. 
If  one  of  the  two  alone  is  essential,  there  can  of 
course  be  no  question  which  it  is.  Whether  inward 
and  spiritual  graces,   in  other  words,  holiness,  can 

*  See  Appendix,  Note  B,  for  a  short  account  of  the  "  Home 
Mission  Committee." 


112  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

flourish   without   the   use   of  outward    observances, 
must  ultimately  be  a   question   of  experience  and 
observation.     "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 
It  might  perhaps  be  difficult  for  one  born  and  bred 
in    the    Society   to    appeal    explicitly  to    this   test. 
But  having  entered  it  within  the  last  few  years,  I 
may  perhaps  without  impropriety  say  that  Friends 
need   surely  not  shrink   from  the  inquiry  whether 
the   practical   standard  of  holiness    amongst  their 
members  is  on  a  level  with  that  of  other  Christians. 
If  it    be    so — if  love,   joy,    peace,    long-suffering, 
gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  and  temper- 
ance be  not  lacking  amongst  us — surely  we  may 
well  ask,  Wherein  does  our  free  ministry  fail  of  its 
due  effect  ? 

"  It  fails,"  some  would  no  doubt  reply,  "  not  in 
the  quality,  but  in  the  quantity  of  its  results.  How- 
ever excellent  the  results  in  the  life  and  conversa- 
tion of  Friends  individually,  they  are  not  a  growing 
body,  and  therefore  not  a  healthy  branch  of  the 
Church  at  large."  I  shall  deal  elsewhere  with  the 
subject  of  our  long  dwindling  in  former  times, 
and  our  present  slow  increase  in  numbers.  I  will 
content  myself  here  with  the  obvious  reply  that 
the  numerical  increase  or  decrease  of  a  denomina- 
tion can  never  afford  a  satisfactory  test  of  the 
spiritual  fruitfulness  of  its  ministry ;  mere  numbers 


FREE  MINISTRY.  113 

being  always  affected  by  many  other  causes,  some 
of  which  have  but  little  connection  with  spiritual 
health.  It  even  gi\cs  but  a  \ery  doubtful  measure 
of  the  mere  numbers  to  whom  the  influence  of  the 
preaching  in  question  may  extend.  It  must,  no 
doubt,  be  admitted  that  the  personal  and  the 
numerical  tests  are  apt  to  yield  conflicting  results  ; 
that  the  purest  form  of  religion  is  rarely  the  most 
popular,  though  it  is  likely  to  have  the  most 
lasting,  and,  in  the  end,  the  most  widely  spread, 
influence.  But  if  purity  and  popularity  are  in  any 
sense  incompatible,  can  we  hesitate  as  to  the 
direction  towards  which  we   should  lean  ?  * 

*  I  believe,  as  I  have  already  said,  that  few  people  outside  the 
Society  are  aware  of  the  extent  to  which  the  practice  is  still  con- 
tinued of  Friends  who  feel  themselves  called  to  the  ministry 
traveUing,  as  we  say,  "in  the  service  of  truth,"  or  "under  a  sense 
of  religious  concern,"  not  only  from  place  to  place  in  England,  but 
also  all  over  the  world.  A  remarkable  variety  of  "  services "  are 
in  this  way  spontaneously  undertaken,  and  carried  out,  sometimes 
quite  alone,  sometimes  with  the  help  of  one  or  more  Friends 
"  liberated  "  to  accompany  the  minister.  And  those  small  meetings 
where  there  is  but  little  vocal  ministry  are  objects  of  special  care 
and  concern  to  the  larger  meetings,  of  which  they  form  a  part;  and 
many  Friends  make  a  practice  of  visiting  them  from  time  to  time. 

There  was  also  a  special  service  to  which  ministering  Friends 
formerly  often  felt  themselves  called,  and  which,  though  much 
disused  of  late  years,  is  not  altogether  extinct — that  of  paying 
"religious  visits  to  families"  in  particular  districts  or,  in  other 
words,  of  holding  meetings  for  worship  and  mutual  edification  from 
house  to  house — generally,  but  not  invariably,  amongst  our  own 
members  only.  These  visits  were  occasions  specially  adapted  and 
felt  suitable  for  the   exercise  of   that  peculiar  gift   of  "  speaking   to 


114  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

I  have  said  that  our  corner-stone  and  foundation 
is  our  beHef  that  God  does  indeed  communicate 
with  each  one  of  the  spirits  He  has  made  in  a 
direct  and  living  inbreathing  of  some  measure  of 
the  breath  of  His  own  hfe.  That  behef  is  not 
pecuHar  to  us.  What  is  pecuHar  to  us  is  our  testi- 
mony to  the  freedom  and  sufficiency  of  this  imme- 
diate Divine  communication  to  each  one.  The 
ground  of  our  existence  as  a  separate  body  is  our 
witness  to  the  independence  of  the  true  gospel 
ministry  of  all  forms  and  ceremonies,  and  of  all 
humanly  imposed  limitations  and  conditions.  We 
desire  to  guard  this  supreme  function  of  the  human 
spirit  from  all  disturbing  influences  as  jealously  as 
the  mariner  guards  his  compass  from  anything 
which  might  deflect  the  needle  from  the  pole;  and 
for  the  same  reason — that  we  believe  the  direct 
influence  of  the  Divine  Mind  upon  our  own  to  be 
our  one  unerring  Guide  in  the  voyage  of  life,  and 
that  the  faculty  by  which  we  discern  it  is  but  too 
easily  drawn  aside  by  human  influences.  There  is, 
surely,  a  very  deep  significance  and  value  in  the 
Protestant  instinct  of  independence  in  this  deepest 

the  condition  of"  individuals  which  some  Friends  (especially  in 
former  times)  seem  to  have  possessed  in  a  remarkable  degree. 
I  believe  them  to  have  been  of  deep  value  when  rightly  conducted 
by  the  few  possessing  a  real  qualification  for  such  delicate  and  at 
times  searching  services,  but  perhaps  peculiarly  liable  to  degenerate 
into  what  was  neither  edifying  nor  acceptable. 


FREE  M/XISTRY.  115 

region.  The  Quaker  tradition  of  "  non-resistance  " 
has  attracted  a  degree  of  popular  attention  Avhich 
is,  I  think,  out  of  all  }):-oportion  to  that  bestowed 
on  the  profound  and  stubborn  independence  of 
Quakerism — its  resolute  vindication  of  each  man's 
individual  responsibility  to  his  Maker,  and  to  Him 
alone.  The  supreme  value  assigned  by  Friends 
to  consistency  of  conduct — to  strict  veracity  and 
integrity,  and  other  plain  moral  duties — has,  I 
believe,  an  intimate  connection  with  their  abandon- 
ment of  all  reliance  upon  outward  observances,  or 
official  support  and  absolution.  "  The  answer  of  a 
good  conscience  "  comes  into  prominence  when  all 
extraneous  means  of  purification  are  discarded. 
And  when  outward  ordination  is  seen  to  be  insuffi- 
cient to  enable  any  one  effectually  to  minister  to 
the  deep  needs  of  a  troubled  spirit,  then  that 
ministry  which  is  truly  the  outcome  of  the  fiery 
"  baptisms "  of  Divinely  appointed  discipline 
assumes  its  true  dignity  in  our  eyes  as  the  only 
real  qualification  for  reaching  the  witness  in  other 
hearts. 

I  doubt  whether  any  other  Protestant  sect 
recognizes  the  preciousness  of  the  discipline  of 
suffering  as  it  is  recognized  by  Friends.  That  it 
is  only  through  deep  experience,  both  of  inward 
exercises  and  of  outward  sorrows,  that  any  one  can 


Ii6  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

become  fully  qualified  to  hold  forth  the  Word  of 
life  to  others,  is  signified  by  the  familiar  Quaker 
expression,  "  a  deeply  baptized  minister."  So 
strongly  have  some  Fiiends  felt  this  necessity  that 
they  have  come  to  distrust,  if  not  to  condemn, 
whatever  appears  to  them  "  superficial  "  or  easily 
produced  in  ministry.  A  holy  awe,  deepening  at 
times,  I  believe,  into  even  too  anxious  a  restraint, 
has  ever  surrounded  the  exercise  of  our  emphati- 
cally "  free "  ministry — free  from  all  human  and 
outward  moulding,  precisely  in  order  that  it  may 
be  the  more  sacredly  reserved  to  the  Divine  and 
inward  moulding  and  restraining  as  well  as  im- 
pelling power. 

The  danger  of  our  profoundly  "  inward  "  ideal 
is,  of  course,  in  its  liability  to  generate  scruples,  and 
a  degree  of  morbid  introspectiveness,  especially  in 
the  exercise  of  this  particular  gift.  Recognizing 
fully  the  deep  truth  that  many  "baptisms"  have 
to  be  passed  through  by  those  to  whom  the  price, 
less  gift  of  ministry  is  entrusted,  and  that  peculiar 
trials  are  apt  to  precede  every  special  replenishing 
of  the  sacred  vessel,  Friends  have  sometimes  gone 
on  to  hold  it  almost  a  profanation  to  speak  in 
meetings  for  worship  except  as  the  immediate 
result  of  some  such  painful  exercises.  It  is  easy 
to  see  the   danger  of  any  such  limitation  of  the 


FREE    MIMSTRY.  117 

manner  in  which  the  Divine  pleasure  ma)-  l)e 
intimated  to  individuals.  It  seems  both  probable 
and  agreeable  to  experience  that  a  truly  spiritual 
ministry  should  vary  greatly  both  in  its  form  and 
in  its  degree  of  depth,  in  various  minds.  There  is 
obviously  a  childlike  as  well  as  a  profound  utter- 
ance of  prayer  and  praise,  and  surely  of  "testi- 
mony "  or  "  prophecy "  also.  But  to  recognize 
this  diversity  is  not  in  the  slightest  degree  to 
lower  our  idea  of  the  indispensableness  of  a 
Divine  warrant  for  utterance.  The  scrupulous 
jealousy  which  would  limit  all  ministry  to  one  type 
is  a  very  different  thing  from  that  spirit  of  holy 
fear  which  must  in  this  matter,  above  all,  be  the 
beginning  of  wisdom.  I  think  that  those  who  are 
the  most  ready  to  accept  with  reverence  whatever 
is  offered  in  simple  obedience,  the  most  desirous 
themselves  to  learn  simply  to  obey,  will  also  be 
the  first  to  feel  that  no  one  should  venture  to 
break  the  silence  in  which  inward  prayer  may  be 
arising  from  other  hearts  except  under  the  influence 
(to  use  the  time-honoured  Quaker  expression)  of 
"  a  fresh  anointing  from  above."  The  nearest 
approach  to  a  description  of  what  we  hold  to  be 
a  right  ministry  would  .seem  to  be — words  spoken 
during,  and  arising  from,  actual  communion  with 
God. 


ii8  OUAKhR   STRONGHOLDS. 


CHAPTER  V. 
SPECIAL  TESTIMONIES. 

There  are  certain  points  of  Christian  practice 
upon  which  we  have  been  accustomed  to  lay  a 
degree  of  stress  amounting  to  peculiarity,  although 
our  "testimony"  in  regard  to  them  does  not  in- 
volve any  opposition  to  the  beliefs  of  other 
Christian  bodies,  as  does  that  which  we  have  just 
been  considering  respecting  the  freedom  of  the 
ministry  and  the  disuse  of  ordinances.  The  idea 
of  "  testimony,"  or  practical  witness-bearing  to  a 
stricter  obedience  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ 
than  is  thought  necessary  by  the  mass  of  those 
who  are  called  by  His  name,  has  been  strongly 
impressed  upon  Friends  from  the  very  outset,  and 
the  persecutions  which  it  brought  upon  them  did 
but  burn  it  irrevocably  into  the  Quaker  mind. 

The  preaching  of  the  early  Friends  was,  above 
all  things,  a  preaching  of  righteousness.  I  think  I 
cannot  be  wrong  in  saying  that  a  greater  value  has 
from  the  first  been  attached  by  Friends  to  practice, 


SPECIAL    TESTIMOXIES.  1,9 

as  compared  with  doctrine,  than  is  the  case  with 
most  other  Christian  bodies.  Obedience  to  the 
light  whicli  con\-inces  of  sin  was  the  sum  and 
substance  of  George  Fox's  preaching,  and  through 
his  epistles  and  other  writings  there  runs  a 
vigorously  practical  tone  which  seems  to  have 
been  responded  to  with  equal  vigour  by  those 
whom   he  addressed. 

The  early  Friends  certainly  did,  as  a  rule,  won- 
derfully practise  what  they  preached;  and  their 
character  for  integrity  was  very  quickl)-,  and  has 
been  permanently,  recognized.  It  seems  to  my- 
self inevitable  that  the  appeal  to  the  witness  in 
each  heart  should  reach  deeper,  and  bring  forth 
correspondingly  better  fruit  of  obedience,  when 
disentangled  from  all  reliance  on  external  pass- 
ports to  Divine  favour.  Not  only  the  idea  of  any 
possible  "efficacy  of  sacraments"  as  apart  from 
righteousness  of  life,  but  also  the  idea  of  "sub- 
stitution "  as  distinguished  from  actual  experience 
of  the  transforming  power  of  the  righteousness 
of  Christ,  were  vigorously  rejected  by  the  early 
Friends;  and  in  this  insistence  upon  the  identity 
of  righteousness  with  salvation  lay,  as  I  believe, 
the  main  secret  of  their  strength.  At  any  rate, 
there  has  been  a  remarkably  steady  endeavour  to 
maintain  a  high  and  definite  standard  of  Christian 


I20  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

morality,  partly  by  means  of  the  discipline  of  the 
Society,  partly  by  family  tradition,  discipline,  and 
example.  Certain  "testimonies,"  i.e.  practices  con- 
scientiously adopted,  inculcated,  and  watched  over, 
have  been  handed  down  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion with  a  jealous  care  which,  though  sometimes 
overshooting  its  mark  and  tending  to  produce 
reaction,  has  nevertheless  moulded  the  very  in- 
most springs  of  action,  and  produced  and  main- 
tained a  distinct  and  somewhat  singular  type  of 
Christian  character. 

The  essence  of  Quaker  "testimony"  is  a  practical 
witness-bearing  —  a  lifting  up  in  practice  of  the 
highest  possible  standard  of  uncompromising 
obedience  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  both 
as  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  and  as  inwardly 
experienced  as  the  Light — the  Spirit  of  Truth. 
Friends  have,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  felt  certain  things 
to  be  inconsistent  with  this  teaching  which,  by  the 
great  body  of  those  who  profess  and  call  them- 
selves Christians,  are  not  regarded  as  being  so. 
They  have  attacked  these  things  not  so  much  in 
words  as  by  enjoining  and  observing  a  strict 
abstinence  from  them  at  any  cost,  in  a  spirit  not 
unlike  that  of  the  Rechabites  of  old.  The  original 
Quaker  idea  was  before  all  things  to  have  "clean 
hands ; "  to  stand  clear  of  evil  in  one's  own  person, 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  121 

but  to  abstain  in  silence  unless  specially  called  to 
speak.* 

It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  abstain  on  conscien- 
tious grounds  from  what  is  freely  practised  by 
others  without  giving  some  offence.  Any  singu- 
larity of  this  kind  will  inevitably  be  understood  as 
casting  some  shade  of  disapprobation,  if  not  of 
actual  blame,  on  the  common  practice.  I  do 
not  see  how  we  can  avoid  this  offence  unless  we 
are  content  to  sink  to  the  level  of  least  enlighten- 
ment. We  must,  I  believe,  nerve  ourselves  to 
endure  the  giving  of  it,  remembering  that  the  dis- 
ciple is  not  above  his  Master,  and  that  there  was 
a  time  when  our  Master  Himself  had  "  no  honour 
in  His  own  country."  If  they  have  heard  His  word, 
they  will  hear  ours  also.  Meanwhile  we  may  take 
heart  from  the  knowledge  that  conduct  destined  to 
have  permanent  influence  must  often  displease  for 
a  time. 

The  early  Friends,  or  "  children  of  light,"  as 
they  sometimes  called  themselves,  seem  to  have 
been  drawn  together  in  a  kind  of  spontaneous 
unanimity  on  the  main  points  in  which  their  view 
of  Christian  duty  transcended   that  of  those  about 

*  For  a  short  account  of  the  manner  in  which,  before  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  the  Society  in  America  freed  itself  from  all 
complicity  with  slavery,  as  illustrating  the  working  both  of  our 
principles  and  of  our  organization,  see  Appendix,  Note  C. 


122  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

them.  The  Yearly  Meeting,  which  was  not  con- 
stituted till  1672  (or  twenty-four  years  from  the 
date  of  George  Fox's  beginning  to  preach),  finding 
the  "  testimonies "  against  war,  oaths,  and  super- 
fluities already  in  full  practice,  expressly  recognized 
them  as  belonging  to  "  our  Christian  profession," 
and  directed  inquiry  as  to  the  faithfulness  of 
Friends  in  maintaining  them  to  be  made  in  certain 
querie's  addressed  from  time  to  time  to  all  the 
subordinate  meetings. 

The  practice  of  addressing  such  queries  to  the 
subordinate  meetings  is  maintained  to  this  day, 
although' the  queries  themselves  have  from  time  to 
time  been  altered,  and  of  late  years  the  greater 
number  of  them  are  directed  to  be  seriously  con- 
sidered, but  not  answered.  This  change  in  our 
practice  has  probably  not  been  without  a  balance 
of  advantage  and  disadvantage.  The  system  of 
requiring  answers  to  the  queries  was,  in  truth,  a 
very  powerful  engine  of  discipline,  for  they  were 
considered  and  answered  with  scrupulous  care  and 
precision,  and,  in  case  of  an  unfavourable  report, 
individuals  who  were  regarded  as  failing  to  main- 
tain the  testimonies  of  the  Society  were  liable  to 
be  "  put  under  dealing,"  and,  in  case  of  obstinacy, 
to  eventual  disownment.  This  ultimate  penalty 
of  disobedience  was   in   former  times  inflicted  for 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  123 

much    slighter  causes    tliaii  would   at  the    present 
day  render  an}'  one  liable  to  it.* 

It  seems  to  me   that  there  is  a  serious  danger 
inherent  in  the  very  nature  of  collective  testimonies, 
especially  those   which   imply    the   lifting   up  of  a 
standard  of  exceptional    severity   and   purity,  lest 
that  which  is  in  some,  perhaps  even  in  the  majority, 
sincere    and    spontaneous    should    be    adopted    at 
second    hand,    and    without   personal    warrant,  by 
others,  and  should  thus  become  a  mere  hollow  pro- 
fession.    For  this  reason  I  am  thankful  that  a  much 
greater  degree  of  freedom  is  now  allowed   to  our 
members  in  all  matters  as  to  which  there  is  room 
for   a    conscientious    difference    of    opinion.       Our 
strength  seems  to  me  to  depend  largely  upon  our 
consistency  in  appealing  to  the  gospel  rather  than 
to  the  law — in  trusting  to  the  purifying  power  of 
an  indwelling,  informing  Spirit,  rather  than  to  any 
external  framework  of  regulations.     To  do  anything 
which    can   stimulate   the   profession    of   more    or 
higher  enlightenment  than  is  actually  possessed,  is 

♦The  expression  "put  under  dealing"  describes  the  prescribed 
preHminary  to  disownment.  When  an  overseer,  having  found 
private  remonstrance  unavailing,  is  obliged  to  bring  a  case  of  wrong- 
doing before  the  Monthly  Meeting,  that  Meeting  appoints  one  or 
two  Friends  to  visit  and  "deal  with"  the  offender,  in  the  way  of 
exhortation  and  counsel,  with  a  View  to  induce  him  to  acknowledge 
and  condemn  or  "disown"  his  own  fault,  and  thus  to  avert  the 
penalty  of  the  Society's  disownment  of  himself. 


124  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

indeed  a  signal  and  a  grievous  departure  from  our 
own  avowed  principles  ;  and  I  believe  that  no 
surer  method  could  be  devised  for  bringing  our 
Society  into  disrepute  and  decay  than  the  attempt 
to  require  a  pre-arranged  uniformity  with  regard 
to  those  special  testimonies  which  imply  special 
enlightenment. 

The  loftier  and  more  delicate  the  ideal,  the 
greater  the  risk  of  formulating  and  attempting-  to 
impose  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  our  wisdom  is  to 
insist  more  and  more  boldly  upon  obedience  to 
the  broad  plain  laws  of  duty  which  all  Christians 
recognize  as  laid  down  for  us  by  those  recorded 
words  of  our  Master  Himself,  which  are  our  one 
supreme  standard ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  leave 
more  and  more  scope  for  the  working  out  in 
detail  of  all  the  lovely  and  harmonious  yet 
varying  results  of  individual  faithfulness  to  the 
promptings  of  His  Spirit  in  each  heart.  Any 
distinct  breach  of  the  moral  law,  any  falling 
below  that  standard  of  "peaceable  innocent  life" 
which  is  acknowledged  by  all  as  the  test  of  the 
reality  of  light  within,  may  and  should  surely 
be  made  a  matter  of  Church  discipline — a  matter, 
that  is,  in  which  brethren  should  watch  over  one 
another  for  good,  and  obedience  to  which  must 
be    a    condition    of  sound  fellowship.      But   when 


SPECIAL   TESTIMONIES.  125 

discipline  descends  to  the  regulation  of  details 
whose  whole  significance  and  value  depend  upon 
their  being  prompted  by  conscience,  under  the 
living  and  ever-present  guidance  of  the  light,  then 
surely  the  human  is  intruding  upon  the  province 
of  the  Divine,  and  we  are  checking  and  hampering 
and  weakening  that  very  moulding  from  within 
which  it  is  our  chief  object  as  a  Society  to  watch 
^for  and  to  yield  to  in  all  things. 

But  while  all  attempts  at  collective  self-discipline 
must  involve  a  danger  of  hollowness,  which  means 
weakness,  if  not  actual  insincerity,  it  is  to  be 
remembered,  on  the  other  hand,  that  there  is  in 
association  not  only  a  well-known  source  of 
strength,  but  a  very  valuable  shelter ;  a  protection 
to  right  instincts  of  modesty.  In  maintaining  any 
exceptionally  high  standard  of  action,  especially 
in  matters  of  detail,  there  is  a  real  safety  as 
well  as  comfort  in  united  action.  While  we  are 
treading  in  the  steps  of  our  honoured  predecessors, 
however  freely  we  may  have  chosen  our  path,  we 
are  not  tempted  to  claim  that  we  discovered  it ; 
nor  need  we  anxiously  vindicate  it  as  though  it 
were  but  the  prompting  of  some  individual  scruple 
or  preference.  In  the  practical  results  of  the 
collective  exercises  of  a  considerable  body  of 
fellow-disciples,  we  do,  I  believe,  in  fact  find,  as  we 


126  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

might  reasonably  expect  to  find,  a  peculiar  purity 
and  propriety.  It  is  not  difficult  to  justify  the 
wisdom  by  which  our  special  testimonies  have 
been  worked  out,  though  it  is  easy  also  to  see  the 
mischief  of  too  rigid  an  enforcement  of  them. 

Our  Society,  like  the  United  Kingdom,   enjoys 
the  elasticity  resulting  from    the   absence   of  any 
written  constitution,   and    the    precise   working    of 
its    discipline    is  by   no  means  easily  traced.     Its 
"testimonies,"     though     clearly    recognized     and 
notorious,  are   not  formulated   or  defended  in  any 
authoritative  document.    The  "  Book  of  Discipline  " 
consists,  as  I  have  said,  of  extracts  from  "  Epistles  " 
and   "  Advices "   circulated  from  time  to  time  by 
the  Yearly  Meeting.     These  are  in  the  nature  of 
brotherly  exhortations,  which  assume  our  principles 
as  undisputed  ;  and  though  carefully  worded,  they 
do    not   deal    in    definitions    or    arguments.       Our 
testimonies  are,   in  fact,  to  a  degree    which    is,  I 
think,  hardly  understood  outside  the  Society,  the 
result   of  individual  and  spontaneous  obedience  to 
the   bidding    of  individual  conscience,  and  to  the 
guiding  of  the  Divine  light  shining  in  each  heart, 
rather  than  of  conformity  to  rules  enforced  or  even 
precisely   laid    down    by   any    human    authority. 
They    are    collective,    but    unformulated ;    subjects 
for    discipline,    yet    not   prescribed    or    regulated ; 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  127 

familiar  and  even  notorious  peculiarities,  yet  vary- 
ing indefinitely  in  the  degree  in  which  they  are 
maintained  by  individuals. 

The  traditional  reverence  for  individual  con- 
science is  still  so  strong  that  the  precise  nature  of 
the  obstacle  felt  by  Friends  to  any  particular  course 
of  conduct  is  apt  to  be  shrouded  in  some  degree 
of  mystery.  The  phraseology  of  the  Society,  which 
is  almost  a  separate  language,  vividly  conveys  this 
sense  of  an  insuperable  but  (to  outsiders)  myste- 
rious restraint.  "  Truth  requires "  that  certain 
things  should  be  done  or  left  undone.  A  Friend 
"  feels  a  stop  in  his  mind,"  or  "  is  not  easy  to  pro- 
ceed W'ith  "  some  undertaking.  Such  and  such  a 
thing  "  appears  "  (to  John  Woolman,  for  instance) 
"  to  be  distinguishable  from  pure  wisdom." 

There  are,  as  is  well  known,  individual  Friends 
who  have  abundantly  argued,  on  general  grounds, 
the  moral  questions  involved  in  our  "  testimonies." 
Friends  have  never  been  wanting  in  pugnacity, 
whatever  their  scruples  as  to  the  use  of  "  carnal 
weapons  "  or  of  violent  language.  But  yet  their 
practice  has  in  the  main  been  felt  out  rather  than 
thought  out ;  their  testimonies  are  instances  of 
problems  solved  by  going  forward  rather  than 
of  theories  built  up  through  any  speculative 
process ;  and  in  regard  to  each  one  of  them  every 


128  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

true  Friend  feels  that  to  his  own  Master  he  stands 
or  falls,  and  that  there  is  but  one  Example  to  which 
he  ought  to  look,  and  one  Guide  whom  he  desires 
to  obey.  As  in  regard  of  our  public  ministry,  so 
in  the  lesser  matters  of  everyday  life  and  practice, 
we  jealously  guard  our  individual  liberty  from 
human  interference  in  order  that  it  may  be  the 
more  unreservedly  subjected  to  all  Divine  in- 
fluences. 

And  not  only  do  we  guard  our  own  liberty — we 
refrain  from  attempting  to  limit  that  of  others. 
If  our  conscientious  abstinence  from  certain  prac- 
tices is  inevitably  understood  as  in  some  sense 
casting  a  shadow  of  reproach  or  blame  upon  those 
practices,  we  yet  are  careful  to  abstain  from  con- 
demning those  who  are  acting  in  obedience  to 
their  own  measure  of  light.  I  believe  we  must 
with  boldness  and  humility  acknowledge  that  such 
practical  witness-bearing  as  we  believe  ourselves 
called  to  implies  that  we  are  as  "  a  city  set  on  a 
hill."  We  do  not  attempt  to  lay  down  rules 
applicable  at  once  and  equally  to  all.  The  home- 
ward road  cannot  be  altogether  the  same  for 
dwellers  on  the  hill  and  dwellers  on  the  plain ;  the 
goal  alone  is  one.* 

*  I  hope  it  will  be  remembered  that  my  object  throughout  is  to 
unfold  the  meaning  of  our  ideal,  not  at  all  to   estimate  the  degree 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  \  29 

The  most  important  and  the  best  known  of  the 
special  testimonies  of  which  I  have  now  t.)  speak 
is  that  which  has  been  steadily  borne  by  our 
members  against  all  war.  Friends  have  ever 
maintained  and  acted  upon  the  belief  that  war  and 
strife  of  all  kinds  are  opposed  to  the  spirit  and  the 
teaching  of  Christ,  and  have  felt  themselves,  as  His 
disciples,  precluded  from  engaging  in  them.  They 
have  steadfastly  refused  to  take  up  arms  at  the 
bidding  of  any  human  authority,  or  in  the  presence 
of  any  danger.  This  course  of  conduct  has,  of 
course,  brought  them  into  frequent  collision  with 
the  civil  power,  and  needs  for  its  justification,  as 
Friends  are  the  first  to  acknowledge,  the  warrant  of 
a  higher  than  any  national  authority. 

It  is,  indeed,  an  awful  position  which  we  have 
thus  been  bold  to  take  up — the  position  of  those 
who  feel  themselves  called  upon  to  act  as  the  salt 
of  the  earth,  as  leaders  who  refuse  to  be  led.  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  confess  that  this  attitude  of  possible 
resistance  to  the  demands  of  our  country  in  the 
presence  of  a  common  danger  was  the  one  part  of 
the  Quaker  ideal  which  I  for  a  time  seriously 
hesitated  to  accept.     So  long  as  I  understood  it  to 

in  which  we  actually  live  according  to  it.  I  am  not  in  a  position  to 
form  any  opinion  worth  having  as  to  the  actual  state  of  the  Society, 
nor  if  I  had  any  such  opinion  should  I  wish  to  publish  it.  My 
desire  is  to  explain  the  secret  of  our  strength,  not  of  our  weakness. 

K 


I30  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

be  accompanied  by  or  based  upon  any  condemna- 
tion of  those  who  conscientiously  believe  that  their 
duty  to  God  requires  them  to  yield  unqualified 
obedience  to  the  demands  of  their  country  for 
military  service,  I  was  unable  to  accept  it.  But 
when  I  came  to  understand  that  the  Quaker 
testimony  against  all  war  did  not  take  the  form  of 
any  ethical  theory  of  universal  application,  but  was 
simply  the  acting  out  in  one's  own  person  and  at 
one's  own  risk  of  obedience  to  that  which  one's 
own  heart  had  been  taught  to  recognize  as  Divine 
authority,  even  where  its  commands  transcended  and 
came  into  collision  with  those  of  the  nation,  I  felt  at 
once  that  the  position  was  not  only  perfectly  tenable, 
but  was  the  only  one  worthy  of  faithful  disciples. 

So  long  as  our  country  is  but  very  imperfectly 
Christianized,  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognize  that 
an  insuperable  contradiction  may  at  any  time  arise 
between  the  demands  upon  our  loyalty  and 
obedience  which  may  be  made  in  its  name,  and 
those  of  the  spirit  of  Christ.  It  would  assuredly 
not  be  acting  in  His  spirit  to  make  light  of  dis- 
obedience to  law;  but  neither  can  any  Christian 
hesitate  for  a  moment  when  called  upon  to  choose 
which  Master  he  shall  obey.  It  seems  to  me  that 
if  any  man  be  prepared  in  the  true  spirit  of  a 
martyr  to  rise  above  his  country's  sense  of  right. 


SPECIAL  TESTIMONIES.  131 

and  to  serve  his  country  in  tlu  hi^^hest  sense  by 
disobeyinjj  and  withstanding  such  of  its  require- 
ments as  in  his  heart  he  beheves  to  be  wroncf  and 
ungodly,  it  is  impossible  to  withhold  from  such  a 
man  the  respect  and  the  admiration  which  we  all 
feel  for  the  martyrs  of  old.  I  do  not  see  how  the 
national  standard  of  duty  can  be  raised — how,  in 
other  words,  the  nation  can  e\cr  be  thoroughly 
Christianized  —  except  through  individual  faithful- 
ness, at  all  costs  and  at  all  risks,  to  a  higher  view 
of  duty  than  that  held  by  the  nation  at  large. 

Here,  of  course,  we  are  confronted  with  the 
question,  Is  our  view  of  dut}'  truly  a  higher  one 
than  that  of  the  nation  at  large  ?  Does  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ  really  call  us  to  abstain  from 
all  warfare  ? 

It  seems  to  me  that  not  only  Friends'  testimony, 
but  the  teaching  of  our  Master  Himself  on  this 
subject  have  been  much,  and  in  a  sense  inevitably, 
misunderstood.  The  subject  is  profoundly  com- 
plex, and  much  of  what  is  said  and  written  about 
it  sounds  altogether  unsubstantial  and  unpractical, 
because  neither  the  depth  and  intricacy  of  the  evil, 
nor  the  far-reaching  and  full  significance  of  the 
principles  opposed  to  it,  arc  sufficiently  felt.  "  I 
say  unto  you,  That  ye  resist  not  evil :  but  whosoever 
shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him 


132  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

the  other  also."  Surely  this  does  not  point  to  an 
abject  submission  or  a  tame  indifference,  but  to 
an  undatintcd  persistence  in  blessing — a  fearless 
overcoming  of  evil  with  good.  It  is  an  appeal  to 
an  unchanging  and  fundamental  principle,  rather 
than  a  mere  rule  of  conduct.  The  whole  passage 
breathes  a  spirit  of  ardent  confidence  in  the 
supremacy  of  goodness ;  in  the  power  of  the 
Perfect  One  who  makes  His  sun  to  shine  upon  the 
just  and  the  unjust,  and  sends  rain  upon  the 
unthankful  and  the  evil  ;  it  is  a  call  to  us  to  be 
perfect,  even  as  our  Father  is  perfect ;  not  a 
suggestion  that  we  should  abandon  or  relax  our 
conflict  with  evil,  but  an  assurance  that  we  are  not 
at  its  mercy — that  He  who  is  with  us  is  stronger 
than  all  they  who  can  be  against  us,  and  that  in 
His  strength  we  can  and  must  meet  evil  with  good 
and  overcome  it. 

Those  who  would  follow  Him  who  thus  spoke, 
must  rise  above  all  personal  considerations,  and 
above  every  temptation  to  retaliate — not  fall  below 
them.  This,  surely,  was  the  spirit  in  which 
William  Penn  won  his  victories  in  the  early  da)-s 
of  Pennsylvania — the  bloodless  victories  which 
make  his  name  to  this  day  a  word  of  love  and 
honour  amongst  the  Indians,  with  whom  his  treaty 
of  peace  was  never  broken.     It  was  not  by  lying 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  133 

down  like  sheep  to  be  slaughtered  by  them,  but  b)' 
going  forward  to  meet  them  with  open  hands  and 
a  trusting  heart,  and  by  honourably  and  generously 
recognizing  their  rights  and  paj'ing  them  a  fair 
price  for  their  lands,  that  he  and  his  followers 
turned  suspicion  and  hatred  into  firm  friendship. 

W'c  are  called  to  rise  above  the  level  of  fighting 
pagans,  not  to  fall  below  it.  There  is,  indeed,  a 
lower  depth  than  that  of  the  military  spirit — the 
depth  of  complacent  mammon-worship.  To  our 
shame  be  it  confessed  that  this  spirit  may  clothe 
itself  under  the  profession  of  "  non-resistance." 
When  the  salt  so  loses  its  savour,  it  is  truly  fit  for 
nothing  but  to  be  cast  out  and  trodden  underfoot. 
But  we  are  concerned  here  not  with  the  deplorable 
caricature  of  that  "testimony  against  all  war" 
which  has  for  two  hundred  years  been  at  once 
the  boast  and  the  reproach  of  Quakerism,  but 
with  its  essence  and  true  significance.  These  lie 
in  the  fact  that  Friends  have,  one  by  one,  indi- 
vidually and  unitedly,  been  led  by  obedience  to  the 
spirit  of  Christ  to  abstain  from  fighting  and  from 
all  concern,  so  far  as  it  has  been  possible  to  clear 
themselves  from  it,  in  strife  of  any  kind.  This  is 
surely  clear  and  solid  ground  to  take,  and  quite 
distinct  from  any  attempt  or  necessity  for  laying 
down  general  and  comprehensive  formulae  of  con- 


134-  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

duct  applicable  to  all  cases,  to  all  persons  and  all 
bodies.  To  formulate  such  general  rules  is,  in 
truth,  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  Quakerism.  To 
yield  one's  self  unreservedly  to  Divine  guidance; 
resolutely,  and  at  whatever  cost,  to  refuse  to  par- 
ticipate in  that  which  one's  own  conscience  has 
been  taught  to  condemn  ; — this  is  the  ancient  and 
inestimable  Quaker  ideal.  It  is  surely  the  best, 
the  most  effectual,  the  most  Christian  way  of  wit- 
nessing against  evil,  and  of  arousing  the  con- 
sciences of  others. 

There  is  not,  I  believe,  any  possibility  of  dis- 
pute, I  will  not  say  amongst  Christians,  but 
amongst  rational  beings,  as  to  the  enormity  of  the 
evil  of  strife  and  discord,  whether  between  nations 
or  between  individuals.  The  question  upon  which 
we  Friends  differ  from  other  Christians  is  not  the 
question  whether  peace  be  desirable — whether  it  be 
not,  in  fact,  the  goal  of  all  political  effort — but 
what  are  the  means  by  which  it  is  to  be  attained  or 
maintained.  Other  Christians  do  not  deny  that 
quarrelling  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and 
we  do  not  deny  that  a  holy  warfare  is  to  be  con- 
tinually maintained  against  evil  in  every  form. 
But  we  regard  the  opposing  of  violence  by  violence 
as  a  suicidal  and  hopeless  method  of  proceeding ; 
we  feel,  as  Christians,  that  the  weapons  of  our  war- 


SPECIAL   TESTIMONIES.  135 

fare  are  not  carnal.  We  cannot,  by  taking  military 
ser\'ice,  place  ourselves  at  the  absolute  disposal  of 
a  power  which  may  at  any  time  employ  its  soldiers 
for  purposes  so  questionable  and  often  so  un- 
hallowed. 

To  abstain,  on  these  grounds,  from  all  participa- 
tion in  warfare  is  surely  a  quite  different  thing 
from  laying  down  any  general  theory  as  to  the 
"  unlawfulness  "  of  war.  I  own  that  it  does  not 
appear  to  me  to  be  right  or  wise  to  blame  those 
who  are  acting  in  obedience  to  their  own  views  of 
duty,  however  much  they  may  differ  from  our  own. 
I  do  not  think  it  can  serve  any  good  purpose  to 
ignore  the  force  of  the  considerations  by  which  war 
appears  to  many  people  to  be  justified.  I  would 
even  go  further,  and  admit  that,  under  all  the  com- 
plicated circumstances  of  the  w'orld  (including 
historical  facts  and  treaty  obligations),  there  are 
cases  in  which  men  may  be  actually  bound  to  fight 
in  what  they  believe  to  be  a  just  cause;  although 
it  does  not,  I  believe,  follow  that  every  individual 
would  be  justified  in  taking  part  in  such  warfare. 
Would  any  one  say  that  at  the-  time  of  the  Indian 
Mutiny  the  Governor-General  of  India  ought  not 
to  have  permitted  the  use  of  arms  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  women  and  children  ?  I  doubt  whether 
any  Friend  would  be  found  to  maintain  this.     But 


136  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

it  is  equally  to  be  remembered  that  no  true  Friend 
could  well  have  occupied  the  position  of  the 
Governor-General.  No  nation  which  had  from  the 
beginning  of  its  history  been  thoroughly  Chris- 
tian could,  I  suppose,  have,  found  itself  in  the 
position  which  we  occupied  in  India  in  1857.  Were 
all  the  world,  in  the  true  and  full  sense  of  the  word. 
Christian,  such  events  obviously  would  not  occur. 
Had  we  been  from  the  first  a  thoroughly  Christian 
nation,  our  whole  history  must  have  been  different, 
and  would  (as  we  Friends  believe)  have  been  in- 
finitely nobler. 

We  do  not  profess  to  lay  down  any  general  rule, 
by  obedience  to  which  war  can  be  instantly  dis- 
pensed with  by  nations  in  their  unregenerate  state, 
and  without  a  sacrifice.  A  fully  Christian  nation 
has  never  yet  been  seen  on  earth.  It  ihay  well  be 
that  such  a  nation,  could  it  now  come  suddenly  into 
existence,  would  meet  with  national  martyrdom. 
Meanwhile  it  is  the  imperfection  of  our  Christianity 
and  the  mixed  and  complex  nature  of  national 
affairs  which  make  it  so  difficult  to  apply  to  national 
action  any  pure  principles  of  conduct.  This  is 
not  to  deny  the  existence  of  such  principles.  To 
recognize  the  difficulty,  nay,  the  impossibility,  of 
suddenly  or  sweepingly  applying  them  to  prac- 
tice, is  not  to  deny  their  leavening  power.     When 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  137 

we  Friends  speak  of  what  is  "right,"  we  icfer 
not  to  any  external  and  rigid  rule  of  conduct, 
but  to  that  which  in  each  individual  case  is  trul)- 
the  best  and  the  highest  course  open  to  the  indi- 
vidual. To  say  this  is  not  to  say  that  right  is  in 
itself  variable.  It  is  only  to  say  what  will,  I 
think,  be  denied  by  few,  that  the  human  ideal 
of  right  is  progressiv^e,  not  stationary. 

We  do,  however,  further  say,  what  undoubtedly 
is  denied  by  many,  that  the  ideal  revealed  to  us 
in  the  life  and  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord, 
and  gradually  being  worked  out  in  His  own  people 
through  His  ever-present  inward  influence,  is  the 
highest  and  the  purest  conceivable ;  and  that, 
therefore,  all  real  progress  must  be  an  approach  to- 
wards Him.  It  is  this  Christian  ideal  which,  as  it 
gains  possession  of  the  human  mind,  must  extin- 
guish the  spirit  which  leads  to  strife  and  warfare. 

It  is  commonly  supposed  that  Friends  have 
some  special  scruple  about  the  use  of  physical 
force  in  any  case.  This  is,  I  believe,  by  no  means 
true  of  the  Society  at  large,  although  the  popular 
notion  may  very  likely  be  founded  upon  fact  as 
regards  individuals.  As  a  body,  Friends  have 
always  recognized  "  the  just  authority  of  the  civil 
magistracy,"  and  have,  I  believe,  never  disputed  the 
lawfulness   of  the  use  of  "  the  sword "  (whatever 


138  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

may  be  meant  by  that  expression)  in  maintaining 
that  authority.*  George  Fox  himself  repeatedly 
reminded  magistrates  that  they  should  not  "  bear 
the  sword  in  vain,"  but  that  they  should  use  it  for 
the  punishment  of  evil-doers,  not  of  those  who  did 
well. 

It  is  not,  as  I  understand  it,  the  use  of  physical 
force,  or  even  the  suffering  caused  by  the  use  of  it, 
which  really  makes  war  hateful  in  Christian  eyes ; 
but  the  evil  passions,  the  "  lusts "  from  which  it 
springs,  and  to  which,  alas!  it  so  hideously  ministers. 
The  dispassionate  infliction  of  punishment  by  an 
impartial  and  a  lawful  authority  surely  stands  upon 
a  quite  different  footing  from  that  "  biting  and 
devouring  one  another "  which,  whether  between 
nations  or  between  individuals,  it  is  the  very  aim 
and  object  of  law  to  suppress.  Suffering  inflicted 
for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  peace  cannot,  I  think, 
be  condemned  by  the  advocates  of  peace  unless 
it  be  on  the  ground  of  failure. 

*  I  believe  that  scarcely  any  Friend  would  be  found  to  consider 
the  office  of  the  policeman  as  an  unlawful  one,  or  to  entertain 
scruples  about  the  use  of  physical  force  in  maintaining  order.  I  am 
told  that  Friends  have  often,  and  without  censure,  acted  as  special 
constables. 

With  regard  to  the  subject  of  capital  punishment,  the  Yearly 
Meeting  has,  indeed,  during  the  last  fifty  years,  expressed  very  serious 
doubts  of  its  being  justifiable ;  but  the  matter  is  treated  as  one 
"needing  prayerful  consideration"  by  those  whom  it  may  concern, 
not  as  beyond  all  question  clear. 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  139 

I  own  that  I  personally  cannot  but  recognize  that 
upon  this  \ie\v  certain  wars  appear  to  be  not  only 
inevitable  but  justifiable,  as  partaking  of  the  nature 
of  national  police  operations.  I  cannot,  there- 
fore, regard  all  war  as  wholly  and  unmitigatedly 
blamable,  although  I  can  hardly  imagine  any  war 
which  does  not  both  come  from  evil  and  lead  to  evil. 

Again,  there  are  treaty  obligations  requiring  us 
in  certain  cases  to  take  up  arms  for  the  protec- 
tion of  weaker  nations,  from  which  we  could  not 
suddenly  recede  without  a  breach  of  national  good 
faith.  It  surely  does  not  become  us,  in  our  zeal 
for  peace,  to  make  light  of,  or  overlook,  such 
considerations  as  this.  They  should,  I  think,  in 
the  first  place  lead  us  to  abstain  from  sw^eeping 
generalizations,  and  from  blaming  those  who  are 
ready  to  lay  down  their  lives  in  obedience  to  their 
country's  call  and  in  our  defence,  or  the  defence 
of  the  oppressed  in  other  countries  ;  while  yet  we 
resolutely  maintain  our  own  obedience  to  that 
higher  authority  by  which  we  have,  as  we  believe, 
been  taught  a  better  way — a  way  incompatible  with 
outward  strife — of  giving  our  lives  for  the  common 
weal.  We  should  be  very  careful  how  we  call  that 
a  wicked  action  which  a  good  man  may  honestly 
do  in  obedience  to  his  own  sense  of  duty;  we 
should  be  still  more  careful  lest,  while  professing 


I40  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

to  take  higher  ground,  we  do  in  fact  fall  far  short 
of  such  men  in  our  lives  ;  but  we  must,  for  all  that, 
be  faithful  to  the  light  we  have. 

And,  in  the  second  place,  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  true  inference  from  the  consideration  of  the 
complicated  conditions  of  international  affairs  is 
that  the  time  is  not  yet  ripe  for  the  assumption  of 
all  offices  of  public  authority  by  thorough-going 
Christians.  Our '  place  surely  still  is  mainly  to 
leaven,  not  to  govern,  the  world. 

The  world  must  become  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord 


't>^ 


and  of  His  Christ  before  wars  and  fightings  will 
cease  from  amongst  men.  And  the  world  is  very 
far  as  yet  from  acknowledging  that  dominion  in 
anything  but  words.  Yet  we  do  "  profess  and  call 
ourselves  Christians "  ;  we  do  live  in  the  full  light 
of  the  everlasting  gospel ;  and  however  it  may  be 
rejected  or  discarded,  however  far  even  those  Avho 
profess  it  may  be  from  entering  into  its  spirit,  it 
has  yet,  in  spite  of  ourselves,  raised  us  out  of  the 
possibility  of  consistent  paganism.  We  cannot 
return  to  the  old  condition  of  things,  in  which 
nations  thought  it  nc  shame  to  strive  each  for  its 
own  petty  objects,  and  to  be  reckless  of  each  other's 
interests.  There  is  no  satisfactory  resting-place 
for  us  now  on  any  lower  level  than  that  which 
Christ  has  brought  to  light.     Under  the  name  of 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  141 

"altruism,"  this  is  recognized  even  by  those  who 
think   of  Christianit}^   as   a   worn-out    superstition- 
We  who  believe  it  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  are  surely  bound  to  yield  ourselves  heart 
and   soul    to    its    emancipating   influence  —  to    its 
indestructible,  irresistible  appeal  to  us  to  "  live  as 
brethren."    As  in  the  beginning  it  was  felt  by  some 
at  least  to  be  as  clear  as  daylight  that  "  Christians 
cannot  fight,"  so  now,  not  only  amongst  Friends, 
but  in  many  another  Christian  body,  the  same  spirit 
is  working,  and  consciences  are  awakening  to  the 
utter  incompatibility  of  strife    and   retaliation  and 
reckless    self-aggrandizement    with    the    spirit     of 
brotherhood  which  lies  at  the   very  foundation  of 
Christianity.      They  had  need  to   awake;  now,   at 
the  ele.enth  hour,  with  all  Europe   making  itself 
ready  for  war,  it  may  yet  be  that  the  kw  in  whom 
the   fire   of  Christian  zeal  is  burning  in  its  purity 
may  see  their  cause  and  the  cause  of  their  Master 
begin  to  prevail  against  overwhelming  odds.    But 
whether  the  nations  will  hear  or  whether  they  will 
forbear,   wherever    two    or    three    Christians    meet 
together,  there  still  will  be  a  protest  against  strife 
and  selfishness. 

A  protest  against  strife  and  selfishness ;  not  only 
against  strife,  but  against  "  the  greedy  spirit  which 
leads  to  strife."    If  we  are  willing  to  go  down  to 


142  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

the  root  in  this  matter,  if  we  truly  desire  to  do  what 
in  us  Hes  towards  ridding  the  earth  not  only  of 
wars  and  fightings,  but  of  all  forms  of  oppression 
and  cruelty,  must  we  not  recognize  that  the  very 
first  step  is  to  be  ourselves  freed  from  covetousness  ? 
For  who  can  doubt  that  it  is  mainly  about  out- 
ward and  material  things  that  nations  or  indi- 
viduals are  led  into  quarrels  ?  Who  will  venture 
to  say  that,  if  none  of  us  desired  either  to  get  or  to 
keep  more  than  our  share  of  this  world's  goods, 
there  would  be  anything  like  the  amount  of 
fighting,  or  of  preparation  for  it,  which  now  devas- 
tates the  earth?  We  may  be  skeptical  about  the 
possibility  of  any  general  acceptance  of  arbitration 
or  disarmament.  To  be  skeptical  about  the  possi- 
bility of  personal  disinterestedness  would  imply  a 
very  different  sort  of  blindness.  It  seems  to  me 
that  in  struggling  to  rise  and  to  raise  others  more 
and  more  clearly  above  the  greedy  spirit  which  leads 
to  war,  is  the  best  hope  for  many  of  us  of  contributing 
in  any  real  sense  to  the  cause  of  peace  on  earth. 

It  was  long  ago  recognized  by  Friends  that  (to 
use  the  words  of  John  Woolman)  "  in  every  degree 
of  luxury  are  the  seeds  of  war  and  oppression." 
The  connection  between  luxury  and  cruelty  is, 
indeed,  almost  a  truism,  but  it  is  one  of  those 
truisms  of  which  it  is   unfortunately  easy  to  lose 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  143 

sight;  and  I  fear  that  even  amongst  Friends  the 
famihar  testimonies  against  all  war  and  against 
superfluities  are  apt  to  be  held  without  any  vivid 
sense  of  their  vital  connection. 

No  one,  surely,  will  deny  that  the  selfish  desire 
of  mere  pleasure,  when  allowed  to  rule,  will  feed 
itself  at  the  expense  of  suffering  and  privation  to 
others  ;  that  it  docs  cause  that  scramble  for  gain 
in  which  the  weak  are  trampled  upon,  and  every 
furious  passion  is  stimulated.*  The  difficulty  in 
regard  to  bearing  a  practical  testimony  against 
superfluities  is  not  that  which  some  of  us  feel 
in  the  case  of  war — that  we  do  not  know  where 
to  take  hold,  that  our  personal  and  daily  con- 
duct seems  to  have  no  immediate  bearing  upon 
questions  of  international  policy,  and  that  the 
whole  problem  eludes  our  grasp  by  its  very  vast- 
ness.  It  is,  rather,  that  we  do  not  like  to  put  our 
shoulder  to  the  wheel  of  simplifying  life  for  our- 
selves and  others ;  that  we  do  not  see  the  beauty 
of  severity;  that  we  love  softness,  or  yield  to  it  for 
want  of  any  purifying  fire  of  hope. 

But  yet,  in  one  form  or  another,  often  extrava- 

*  It  is,  I  believe,  notorious  that  many  of  the  panics  which  often 
actually  lead  to  war,  and  which  tend  to  keep  up  the  enormous  and 
demoralizing  hurdons  of  an  "  armed  peace,"  are  larrjely  brought 
about  by  those  who  have  a  pecuniary  interest  in  them,  either  for 
stock-jobbing  or  for  newspaper-selling  interests. 


144  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

gantly,  foolishly,  even  injuriously,  an  ineradicable 
instinct  has  prompted  Christians  in  all  times  to 
free  themselves  from  luxurious  and  self-indulgent 
ways  of  living ;  to  walk  as  disciples  of  Him  who 
'•had  not  where  to  lay  His  head;"  to  lay  aside, 
not  only  every  sin,  but  every  weight,  that  so  they 
may  run  the  race  set  before  them,  not  as  beating 
the  air,  but  as  those  who  strive  for  the  victory. 

It  is,  indeed,  not  easy  to  define  the  precise  kind 
or  amount  of  luxury  which  is  incompatible  with 
Christian  simplicity ;  or  rather  it  must  of  necessity 
vary.  But  the  principle  is,  I  think,  clear.  In  life, 
as  in  art,  whatever  does  not  help,  hinders.  All 
that  is  superfluous  to  the  main  object  of  life  must 
be  cleared  away,  if'that  object  is  to  be  fully  attained. 
In  all  kinds  of  effort,  whether  moral,  intellectual,  or 
physical,  the  essential  condition  of  vigour  is  a 
severe  pruning  away  of  redundance.  Is  it  likely 
that  the  highest  life,  the  life  of  the  Christian  body, 
can  be  carried  on  upon  easier  terms  ? 

The  higher  our  ideal  of  life,  the  greater,  indeed, 
must  be  the  sacrifices  which  it  will  require  from 
us.  As  we  rise  from  the  lower  to  the  higher 
objects  of  life,  many  things  of  necessity  become 
superfluous  to  us — in  other  words,  we  become 
independent  of  them,  or  outgrow  them.  This  is 
a  widely  different    idea    from   that  of  ascetic  self- 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  145 

discipline  or  self-mortification ;  and  it  is  surely  a 
sounder  and  a  worthier  idea. 

The  Quaker  ideal,  as  I  understand  it,  requires  a 
continual  weighing  of  one  thing  against  another — 
a  continual  preference  of  the  lasting  and  deep  over 
the  transient  and  superficial.  "  Weightiness  "  is 
one  of  the  Friends'  characteristic  and  emphatic 
forms  of  commendation.  To  sacrifice  any  deep 
and  substantial  advantage  to  outward  show  is 
abhorrent  to  the  Quaker  instinct.  To  "  stretch 
beyond  one's  compass  "  grasping  at  shadows,  and 
encumbering  oneself  with  more  than  is  needed  for 
simple,  wholesome  living,  is  at  variance  with  all 
our  best  traditions. 

If  we  bear  in  mind  the  essentially  relative 
meaning  of  the  word  "  superfluous,"  it  is  obvious 
that  such  a  testimony  against  "  superfluities  "  does 
not  require  any  rigid  or  niggardly  rule  as  to  out- 
ward things.  To  my  own  mind,  indeed,  this  view 
of  the  matter  seems  to  require  at  least  as  clearly 
the  liberal  use  of  whatever  is  truly  helpful  to  "  our 
best  life  "  as  the  abandonment  of  obstructing  super- 
fluities. No  doubt  a  testimony  against  superflui- 
ties is  very  liable  to  degenerate  into  formality,  and 
to  be  so  misapplied  as  to  cut  off  much  that  is  in 
reality  wholesome,  innocent,  and  beautiful.  Art 
has  to  a  great  extent  been  banished  from  many 


146  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

Quaker  homes ;  and  a  considerable  amount  of 
injury  has  no  doubt  been  done  by  such  rigid 
severity,  and  perhaps  still  more  by  the  very 
natural  consequent  reaction.  But  it  would,  I 
believe,  be  quite  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the 
extreme  plainness  in  dress  and  other  surroundings 
adopted  by  the  stricter  Friends,  and  formerly 
made  a  matter  of  discipline  by  the  Society,  was 
originally  adopted  with  any  intention  of  self-mor- 
tification or  asceticism.* 

I  believe  that  asceticism  is  in  a  very  deep  sense 
contrary  to  the  real  Quaker  spirit,  which  desires 
in  all  things  to  abstain  from  any  interference 
"in  the  will  of  man"  with  Divine  discipline  and 
guidance,  and  which  would,  I  believe,  regard  the 
idea  of  self-chosen  exercises  in  mortification  of 
the  flesh  with  the  same  aversion  as  it  entertains 
for  pre-arranged  forms  of  worship.  Friends,  no 
doubt,  have  often  believed  themselves  required 
to  submit  to  the  adoption  of  the  plain  dress 
"  in  the  cross "  to  natural  inclination,  and  have 
felt  it  a  valuable  exercise  to  do  so ;  but  the 
plainness  was  not  devised  for  that  purpose,  but 
chosen  (or  rather,  as  Friends  would  say,  they  were 

*I  mean  by  "asceticism"  the  practice  of  any  humanly  devised 
religious  or  spiritual  discipline,  whether  self-chosen  or  prescribed 
b>'  authority. 


SFECIAL   TESTIMOXIES.  147 

led  into  it  by  Truth)  because  of  its  inherent  suit- 
ableness and  Tightness.  It  is  an  outcome  of  the 
instinctively  felt  necessity  of  subordinating  every- 
thing to  principle.  Its  chief  significance  is  that 
of  a  protest  against  bondage  to  passing  fashions, 
and  for  this  reason  it  is  a  settled  costume.  It  is 
also  felt  that  our  very  dress  should  show  forth 
that  inward  quietness  of  spirit  which  does  not 
naturally  tend  towards  outward  adornment,  and 
the  Friends'  recognized  dress  is  therefore  one  of 
extreme  sobriet}'  in  colour  and  simplicity  in  form. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  there  is  really  no 
such  thing  as  a  precisely  defined  Quaker  costume. 
The  dress  is  certainly  precise  enough  in  itself,  and 
to  the  naked  eye  of  the  outside  observer  it  may 
appear  to  present  an  undeviating  uniformity ;  but 
it  is  really  not  a  uniform  in  the  sense  in  which  a 
nun's  or  a  soldier's  dress  is  a  uniform.  It  is  in 
all  respects  a  growth,  a  tradition,  a  language ;  and 
it  is  subject  to  constant  though  slow  modification. 
Any  perfectly  unadorned  dress  of  quiet  colour, 
without  ornament  or  trimming,  if  habitually  worn, 
is  in  fact,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  Quaker 
costume,  though  one  or  two  details  have  by  a  sort 
of  accident  acquired  a  traditional  meaning  as  a 
badge,  which  one  may  adopt  or  nut  according  to 
one's  f. cling  about  badges.     Some  Friends  nowa- 


148  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

days  object  on  principle  to  anything  of  the  kind. 
Others  still  see  a  "  hedge "  or  shelter  in  them. 
Others,  again,  feel  that  they  serve  a  useful  and 
innocent  purpose  in  enabling  Friends  readily  to 
recognize  one  another,  and  that  it  is  not  amiss  for 
them  to  be  easily  recognized  even  by  outsiders. 
But  the  one  important  matter  of  principle  which 
the  Society  as  a  body  have  recognized,  is  that  it 
is  a  waste  of  time  and  money  for  which  Christian 
women  can  hardly  fail  to  find  better  employment, 
to  condescend  to  be  perpetually  changing  the 
fashion  of  one's  garments  in  obedience  to  the 
caprice  or  the  restlessness  of  the  multitude.  "  Plain 
Friends "  are  those  who  are  resolved  to  dress 
according  to  the  settled  principles  which  commend 
themselves  to  their  own  mind,  not  enslaving  them- 
selves to  passing  fashion. 

It  is  easy  to  say  that  they  do  but  exchange  one 
bondage  for  another.  That  may,  indeed,  have 
been  the  case  at  times,  and  may  even  still  be  so 
in  some  families  or  meetings.  But  the  crystallizing 
into  rigid  formality,  though  a  possible  tendency, 
is  no  real  part  of  the  true  Quaker  ideal.  My  own 
strong  feeling  is  that  the  adoption  of  a  settled 
costume,  at  any  rate  in  mature  life  and  from  con- 
viction, is  not  only  the  right  and  most  dignified 
course  on  moral  grounds,  but  also  that  it  has  in 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  149 

actual  experience  afforded  one  more  proof  of  the 
truth  that  the  lower  aims  of  life  can  thrive  only  in 
proportion  as  they  are  kept  in  subordination  to  the 
higher.  The  freedom  from  the  necessity  of  per- 
petual changes,  which  commends  itself  to  Friends 
as  suitable  to  the  dignity  of  "  women  professing 
godliness,"  has  also  the  lower  advantage  of  admit- 
ting a  gradual  bringing  to  perfection  of  the  settled 
costume  itself  We  all  know  how  exquisite,  within 
its  severely  limited  range,  can  be  the  result.  The 
spotless  delicacy,  the  precision  and  perfection  of 
plain  fine  needlework,  the  repose  of  the  soft  tints, 
combine,  in  the  dress  of  some  still  lingering  repre- 
sentatives of  the  old  school  of  Quakerism,  to  pro- 
duce a  result  whose  quiet  beauty  appeals  to  both  the 
mind  and  the  eye  with  a  peculiar  charm.  I  cannot 
think  that  such  mute  eloquence  is  to  be  despised ; 
or  that  it  is  unworthy  of  Christian  women  to  be 
careful  that  their  very  dress  shall  speak  a  language 
of  quietness,  gentleness,  and  purity — that  it  shall 
be  impressive  even  with  a  touch  of  eternity. 

This  principle  of  Christian  simplicity  should, 
in  our  view,  run  through  everj^thing — dress,  furni- 
ture, habits  of  life,  and  forms  of  speech  ;  all  should 
be  severely  purged  from  redundance,  and  from 
mere  imitation  and  conventionality.  The  "plain 
language,"   best  known  as   leading  to  the  use  of 


I50  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

thee  and  thou  for  you  m  speaking  to  one  person, 
and  of  first,  second,  etc.,  for  the  days  of  the  week 
and  the  months,  instead  of  the  ordinary  names 
"  derived  from  heathen  deities,"  was  an  instance 
of  this  endeavour  to  winnow  away  every  super- 
fluity and  every  taint  of  flattery  and  superstition 
from  our  speech.  These  special  peculiarities  of 
speech  are,  as  is  well  known,  completely  dropped 
by  many  of  the  present  generation  of  Friends. 
The  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  two 
hundred  years  in  our  language  and  habits  have 
deprived  these  expressions  of  nmch  of  their  original 
significance,  and  the  tendency  of  the  present  time 
is  no  doubt  towards  the  effacing  of  all  pecuHarities. 
But  some  special  attention  is  still  paid  amongst  us 
to  simplicity  and  guardedncss  of  language  in  a 
wider  sense,  and  surely  this  is  an  object  well 
worthy  of  attention  on  the  highest  as  well  as  the 
lowest  grounds. 

The  idea  of  a  scrupulous  guard  over  the  lips, 
which  is  so  strongly  characteristic  of  all  Friends  at 
all  worthy  of  the  name,  culminates  in  their  united 
testimony  against  oaths.  This  has,  indeed,  been 
always  regarded  by  Friends  as  a  matter  of  simple 
obedience  to  a  plain  command  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
and  I  think  that  nothing  but  long  habit  could 
reconcile  any  sincere  disciple  to  the  ordinary  in- 


SPECIAL    TESTIMONIES.  151 

terpretation  of  His  words  as  intended  to  forbid 
"profane  swearing"  only.*  Many  others  besides 
Friends  have  felt  this  scruple;  but  to  our  Society 
belongs  the  indisputable  credit  of  having,  through 
a  long  and  severe  course  of  suffering  for  their 
"testimony,"  obtained  a  distinst  recognition  of  the 
sufficiency  in  their  case  of  a  plain  affirmation, 
thereby  vindicating  a  principle  which  is  beginning 
to  be  generally  recognized — the  principle  of  having 
but  one  rule  for  all  cases,  that  of  plain  truth;  of 
being  as  much  bound  by  one's  word  as  one's  bond. 
I  think  it  can  hardly  be  questioned  that,  through 
this  simple  and  unflinching  course  of  obedience  to 
the  plain  injunction  of  Jesus  Christ,  Friends  have 
done  much  to  raise  the  standard  of  veracity  in  our 
country.f 

The  refusal  to  pay  tithes  is  a  part  of  the  testi- 
mony against  a  paid  ministry,  of  which  I  have 
sufficiently  spoken  in  the  last  chapter ;  and  I  need 
here  only  say  that  in  all  these  cases  of  resistance 
to  the  demands  of  authority,  for  military  service, 
for  oaths,  or  for  tithes,  the  idea  has  been  that  of 

*  "  But  I  say  unto  you,  Swear  not  at  all.  .  .  .  But  let  your  com- 
munication be  Yea,  yea ;  Nay,  nay :  for  whatsoever  is  more  than 
these  cometh  of  evil  "  (Matt.  v.  34-37). 

■j"  The  victory  thus  won  by  Friends  has  paved  the  way  for  greater 
liberty  for  all ;  and  at  the  present  time  any  one  (whether  "  professing 
with  us"  or  not)  who  objects  on  the  ground  of  religion  to  the 
taking  of  an  oath  is  equally  at  liberty  to  affirm. 


152  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

witnessing    at    one's    own    cost    against    unjust   or 
unrighteous  demands.     It  is,  I  think,  fair  to  claim 
that   it   is   at  one's   own  cost  that  one  refuses  a 
demand  even  for  money  when  it  is  made  by  those 
who    have    the    power    to  take   the   money   or  its 
equivalent  by  force,  and  when  no  resistance  is  ever 
offered  to  their  doing  so.     Friends  have  again  and 
again  submitted  patiently  to  the  levying  of  much 
larger  sums  than  those  originally  claimed,  as  well 
as  to  severe  and  sometimes  lifelong  imprisonments, 
and  other  penalties,  rather  than  by  any  act  of  their 
own  give  consent  to  exactions  which  they  believed 
to  be  unrighteous  in  their  origin  or  purpose.    While 
such  unmistakable  proofs  of  disinterestedness  were 
given,    the    motive  for   withholding  money   could 
hardly  be  misunderstood.     With  regard  to  tithes, 
however,  the  circumstances  have,  since  the  Tithes 
Commutat'on  Act,  become  so  complicated,  that  few 
Friends  now  feel  a  refusal  to  pay  them  a  suitable 
method  of  testifying  against  a  paid  ministry,  and 
the  Yearly  Meeting  has  placed  on  record  this  sense 
of  the  alteration  of  the  state  of  the  case  in  a  minute 
dated  1875  :*  "  This  meeting  believes  that  the  time 
has  arrived  when  the  mode  of  bearing  this  testi- 
mony must  be  left  to  the  individual  consciences  of 
Friends." 

*  "  Boot  of  Discipline,"  p.  141. 


SPECIAL    TEST/MONIES.  153 

Amongst   lesser    matters    as    to    which    Friends 
have    made  a    stand    upon    principle   against    pre- 
vailing   customs,   may-  be    mentioned    "the  super- 
stitious    observance    of    days,"    especially    that    of 
fasts    or    thanksgivings     prescribed     by    the    civil 
government  (a  power  which  we  'do   not  regard  as 
competent    to    prescribe    religious    exercises),    and 
the    practice    of  wearing    mourning,    and    placing 
"  inscriptions  of  a  eulogistic   character "  on   tomb- 
stones.    In  Friends'  burial-grounds  nothing  beyond 
the  name,  and  the  dates  of  birth  and  death,  is  per- 
mitted.    The  objections  to  wearing   mourning-  are 
obvious,  both  on  the  ground  of  unnecessary  expense 
and  trouble  at  a  time  when  the  mind  should  surely 
be  left  as  much  as  possible  undisturbed,  and  also 
on  that  of  its  being  an  expression  (and  an  expres- 
sion so  formal    as   to  be   of  doubtful   sincerity)  of 
grief  and  gloom  in  regard  to  providential   dispen- 
sations which,  however  painful,  we  should  desire  to 
accept  with  cheerful  submission.     There  is  obviously 
much  to  be  said  for  this  application  of  the  principle 
of  simplifying  our  customs,  and  adjusting  our  dress 

.and    other   surroundings   to   the   permanent   rather 

than  the  transient  circumstances  of  our  lives. 
To  simplify  life  to  the  very   uttermost  — is  not 

this   truly   in    itself  a   worthy  aim;     nay,  the   one 

inexorable  condition  of  excellence  ? 


154  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS 

We    have   just    now    been    engaged    with    com- 
paratively  trivial    matters — straws   which    show   as 
no  more  solid  thing  can  do  which  way  the  wind 
blows.     These  things  are  important,  not  in  them- 
selves, but  in  relation  to  the   principles  in   honest 
obedience  to   which  they  have  been   worked   out. 
Simplicity — "the  simplicity  which  is  in  Christ" — 
the  simplicity,  not  of  exclusion,  but  of  Divine  all- 
subduing  supremacy  —  this  is  the  keynote  of  our 
ideal;    and  it  is   a  keynote  to  which  the  human 
heart  must  always   in    some   degree  respond.     At 
the  bottom  of  all  art,  of  all  beauty,  and  surely,  we 
may  say,  of  all  goodness,  lies  the  principle  of  sub- 
ordination—  the   necessity   of  a   perpetual    choice 
between    the    permanent    and    the    transient,    the 
essential    and    the    superficial'.      Quakerism    is    an 
honest   endeavour  to    carry  out   this    principle  in 
the  Christian  life ;  to  weigh  "  in  the  balance  of  the 
sanctuary"    the    meat    that    endureth    against   the 
meat  that  perisheth;    to  cleave  to  the   eternal   at 
the  sacrifice,  if  necessary,  of  all  that  is  temporal. 

I  am,  of  course,  not  absurd  enough  to  claim 
that  this  endeavour  is  peculiar  to  Quakerism.  My 
object  throughout  is  to  show  what  are  the  eternal 
and  unassailable  principles  of  truth  to  which 
Quakerism  appeals,  to  which  it  clings  as  to  its 
strongholds.     And  I  believe  that  the  severe  sifting 


SPECIAL   TESTIMONIES.  155 

away  of  non-essentials  wliich  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  our  revolt  from  accepted  ecclesiastical  practice>, 
and  which  has  ramified  in  detail  into  these  minor 
testimonies,  often  rigidly  and  at  times  even 
laughably  worked  out  by  ind:vidi:ils,  is  a  process 
more  and  more  urgently  needed  in  these  days  of 
rapid  growth  in  all  material  and  intellectual 
resources. 

The  permanent  danger  of  giving  our  labour  and 
our  lives  "  for  that  which  satisfieth  not  "  was  surely 
never  more  desperate  than  in  these  days  of  hurry 
and  fulness,  when  merely  to  stand  still  needs  a 
resolute  effort  of  will.  Are  not  half  the  lives  we 
know  carried  along  in  a  current  they  know  not 
how  to  resist  towards  objects  they  but  vaguely 
recognize,  and  in  their  heart  of  hearts  do  not 
value  ?  Was  the  bondage  of  outward  things  ever 
more  oppressive  than  it  is  to  many  of  those  who 
are  ostensibly,  and  ought  to  be  really,  in  a  posi- 
tion of  entire  outward  independence  ?  How  many 
of  us  have  attained  to  the  unspeakable  repose  of  i 
having  our  centre  of  gravity  in  the  right  place,  of 
leaning  upon  nothing  that  can  fail  ? 

There  is  no  royal  road  to  ridding  ourselves  of 
superfluities.  It  is  a  lifelong  process  of  severe 
purification,  which  at  every  turn  demands  the 
sacrifice  of  the  lower  to  the  higher.     But  as  this 


156  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS. 

severity  is  the  necessary  price  of  attaining  what 
is  highest,  so  also  it  is  the  one  spell  by  which 
life  and  significance  and  value  can  be  given  to 
what  is  lower.  If  it  burns  it  also  brightens ; 
while  it  destroys  it  irradiates.  I  believe  it  to  be 
in  all  things  true  that  nothing  can  have  its  full 
value  except  when  rightly  subordinated  to  that 
which  is  of  more  importance  than  itself  If  you 
sacrifice  the  higher  to  the  lower,  you  not  only 
make  a  bad  bargain,  but  you  injure  the  very 
object  which  you  thus  purchase.  That  of  which 
you  make  an  idol  turns  to  dust  in  the  process. 
The  idol  which  you  have  the  courage  to  pluck 
from  its  throne  may  come  to  life  through  that  very 
act.  From  the  closest  hum.an  affection  down  to 
the  most  trivial  outward  adornment,  all  lovely 
things  owe  their  perfection  of  loveliness  to  being 
held  in  their  due  subordination  to  what  is  yet 
hieher.  "  He  that  will  lose  his  life  shall  save  it  ;  " 
a  hard  saying,  indeed, — with  the  hardness  of  the 
miperishable  rock  in  which  is  our  fortress  and  our 
stronghold. 


(     157     ^ 


CHAPTER    VI. 

OUR    CALLING. 

I  HAVE  endeavoured  to  explain  what  arc  those 
principles  and  practices  into  which  we  as  a  body 
have  been  led  through  what  wc  believe  to  be 
obedience  to  the  Spirit  of  Truth.  I  know  that  in 
some  respects  we  seem  to  our  fellow-Christians  to 
have  mistaken  the  voice  of  our  Guide,  and  to  be, 
through  ignorance  perhaps,  but  }^et  lamcntabl}^ 
excluding  ourselves  from  the  most  precious  privi- 
leges, if  not  consciously  disregarding  the  most 
sacred  injunctions.  It  is  a  very  solemn  question 
upon  which  we  thus  join  issue  with  almost  all  the 
Churches  of  Christendom ;— What  is,  in  fact,  essen- 
tial Christianity? 

"  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  It  would 
ill  become  me  to  attempt  any  estimate  of  the 
fruitfulness  of  that  branch  of  the  Christian  Church 
which  I  have  joined  as  compared  with  the  branch 
of  it    in  which    I    was    brought  up.     I  ha\'e  been 


158  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

occupied  throughout  with  our  ideal,  not  with  the 
degree  of  our  fulfilment  or  failure  to  fulfil  it.  I 
feel  bound,  however,  to  say  that  I  cannot  reconcile 
the  fact  of  the  signs  of  life  and  spiritual  energy 
which  I  find  within  as  well  as  without  the  Society 
with  the  idea  that  either  branch  of  the  Church  is 
really  cut  off  from  the  root  of  the  living  Vine. 
Does  it  follow  that  our  peculiar  principles  and 
practices  are  of  no  consequence  ? 

I  cannot  myself  believe  that  this  is  a  legitimate 
conclusion  from  the  admitted  fact  that  undeniably 
holy  and  Christian  lives  are  led  within  as  well  as 
without  our  borders.  That  fact  does,  I  think,  show 
at  least  that  everything  does  not  depend  either 
upon  the  observance  or  the  disuse  of  outward 
ordinances — it  shows  that  either  course  may  be 
pursued  in  good  faith  and  without  destruction  to 
the  Christian  life;  but  it  is  not  inconsistent  with 
the  belief  that  results  of  profound  importance  to 
the  character  of  our  Christianity  are  involved  in 
this  question  of  ordinances  and  orders,  and  that  it 
therefore  behoves  us  to  seek  the  utmost  clearness 
with  regard  to  it. 

This  question  is  the  very  key  of  the  position  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  as  a  separate  body.  It  is 
as  witnesses  to  the  independence  of  spiritual  life 
upon  outward  ordinances  that  we  believe  ourselves 


J 


OUR  CALLING.  159 

especially    called    to    maintain    our    place    in    the 
universal  Church  in  the  present  day. 

The  importance  of  our  separate  position  is  per- 
haps   somewhat   obscured    in    the   eyes    of    some 
amongst    us    by  the    fact   that  we  can   no   longer 
assume  the  vehemently  aggressive  attitude  of  the 
early    Friends,    as     against    Christians    of    other 
denominations.     They  believed  it  to  be  their  duty 
to  attack  the  "  hireling   priests "    of  their  day   as 
guilty  of  "  apostasy,"  and  upholders  of  the  myste- 
rious powers  of  darkness.     In  our  own  day  such 
judgments  would   imply   either  the  grossest   igno- 
rance or  else  downright  insanity.     We  cannot  help 
knowing,  and  rejoicing  to  know,  that  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  clergy  are  amongst  the  most  devoted 
and  disinterested  of  the  children    of  light,   using 
their  official  position,  as  well  as   every  other  power 
of  body  and  mind,  for  the  promotion  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  the  spread  of  the  gospel.     We  desire 
nothing  better  than  to  fight  beside  them,  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  against  the  common  enemy;    and  we 
are,  in  fact,  often  associated  with  them  in  efforts  of 
this  kind. 

In  like  manner,  it  would  be  impossible  for 
Friends  in  these  days  to  speak  in  the  tone  of  the 
founders  of  the  Society,  as  though  we  possessed 
a  degree  of  light  in  comparison  of  which  all  other 


i6o  QUAKER    STRONGHOLDS 

Christians  must  be  considered  as  groping  \n  thick 
darkness.  The  early  Friends  sometimes  spoke  of 
the  "breaking  forth  of  the  gospel  day"  through  the 
revelation  made  to  them  as  of  an  event  almost  equal 
in  importance  to  its  original  promulgation  sixteen 
hundred  years  before.  In  these  days  we  could  not 
with  any  kind  of  honesty  or  justice  claim  a  position 
so  enormously  in  advance  of  our  neighbours.  On 
all  hands  we  see  evidences  of  fidelity  and  fruitful- 
ness,  and  the  shining  of  examples  which  we  rejoice 
to  admire,  and  desire  to  emulate. 

There  is  thus,  I  think,  a  certain  perplexity  as 
to  our  relative  position  in  the  Christian  Church 
which  is  a  cause  of  some  weakness  amongst 
Friends.  It  is  in  some  respects  easier  to  maintain 
an  aggressive  attitude  than  one  of  mere  quiet  sepa- 
rateness ;  and  it  would  be  no  wonder  if  some, 
especially  of  our  younger  members,  in  these  days 
of  free  interchange  of  sympathy,  should  begin  to 
falter  a  little  as  to  the  importance  of  our  separate 
position.  It  is,  indeed,  one  which  will  not  be  main- 
tained except  as  the  result  of  deep  and  searching 
spiritual  discipline.  The  testimony  against  de- 
pendence on  what  is  outward  cannot  be  borne  to 
any  purpose  at  second  hand.  We  must  ourselves 
be  weaned  from  all  hankering  after  what  is  outward 
and   tangible  before  we    can    appreciate    the  value 


OCR    CALLING.  i6i 

of  a  testimony  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  purely 
spiritual ;  and  that  weaning  is  not  an  easy  process, 
nor  one  that  can  be  transmitted  from  generation 
to  generation.  Unless  our  younger  Friends  be 
taught  in  the  same  stern  school  as  their  forefathers, 
they  will  assuredly  not  maintain  the  vantage-ground 
won  by  the  faithfulness  of  a  former  generation. 

Some  other  causes  have,  I  believe,  tended  to 
confuse  our  relation  to  the  outer  world,  and  make 
it  important  that  Friends  should  look  well  to  their 
path,  and  consider  whither  it  is  tending ;  whether 
we  are  really  guarding  the  position  which  it  is 
specially  our  business  to  defend,  or  allowing  our- 
selves to  be  drawn  off  into  the  pursuit  of  less 
important  matters.  There  are  in  the  main  stream 
of  the  Society  many  currents  and  counter-currents, 
and  its  recent  history  has  been  one  o:'"  change  and 
reaction,  so  that  it  would  be  dangerous  and  pre-' 
sumptuous  for  a  new-comer  to  attempt  to  foretell 
its  course ;  but  I  may  venture  to  point  out  some 
of  the  tendencies  which  are  and  have  been  at  work 
amongst  us,  preparing  the  conditions  under  which 
our  future  work  must  be  done. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Society,  which  sprang 

very  rapidly  into   existence   in   the   middle   of  the 

seventeenth  century,  began   during  the  eighteenth 

to  diminish  in  numbers,  and  was  for  many  years  a 

M 


1 62  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

steadily  dwindling  body.  Closed  meeting-houses 
and  empty  benches  are  now  to  be  found  in  all  parts 
of  the  country  where,  in  former  days,  the  difficulty 
was  to  find  room  for  all  who  came.  Within  the  last 
thirty  or  forty  years  our  numbers  have,  however, 
begun  slowly  to  increase,  although  the  increase  is 
so  far  from  being  equal  to  the  rate  of  increase  of 
the  population  at  large,  that  in  proportion  to  other 
denominations  we  may  still  be  considered  as  in  a 
certain  sense  losing  ground.  The  actual  increase, 
small  as  it  is,  is  nevertheless  a  significant  fact.* 

The  great  falling-off  in  numbers  during  the 
eighteenth  and  part  of  the  nineteenth  centuries  was 
probably  caused,  in  part  at  least,  by  the  fact 
that  after  the  early  days  of  growth  and  perse- 
cution there  followed  a  time  of  outward  quietness, 
in  which  the  value  attached  to  what  one  may 
call  Quaker  tradition  became  excessive,  and 
resulted  in  too  rigid  a  discipline.  The  actual 
discipline  of  the  Society  was  applied  with  a  strict- 
ness which  surely  was  not  altogether  wise  or 
wholesome;  and  the  less  tangible  restraint  of 
public  opinion  within  the  borders  of  a  small  and 
very  exclusive  sect  was  probably  even  more 
oppressive  in  its  rigidity  and  minuteness  of  super- 

*  The   number   of  members  was  reported   in  1862   as  13,844;    in 
1889  as  15,574.     Before  1862  no  returns  were  made. 


OUR    CALLING.  163 

vision.  Until  within  the  last  thirty  }-ears  or  there- 
abouts, it  was  the  almost  invariable  practice  to 
disown  all  members  who  married  "  out  of  the 
Society ;  "  and  this  restriction  must  obviously  have 
done  much  not  only  to  diminish  the  numbers,  but 
probably  also  to  alienate  the  affections  of  successive 
rising  generations.  So  many  of  the  young-  people 
lost  or  resigned  their  membership  for  this  and 
other  causes,  that,  had  no  change  taken  place,  the 
days  of  the  Society  must  to  all  appearance  have 
been  numbered. 

But  in  the  ear!)-  part  of  this   century,  owing,  in 
a  great  measure,  to  the  influence   of  Joseph  John 
Gurney  and  his   sister,   Elizabeth  Fr)',  a  new  wave 
of  religious    and    benevolent    activity    arose;    and 
about    the  same   time,  though    with    what    degree 
of  connection   with   this   impulse  I  do  not  know,  a 
considerable     relaxation    of   discipline    took    place- 
Not  only  w^as  the  practice  with  regard  to  marria"-es 
out  of  the  Society  relaxed,  but  many  minor  mat- 
ters,   in    which    an  irksome   and,   no   dpubt,    often 
hurtful    rigidity    had    prevailed,    began    to   be    de- 
liberately left  to  the  judgment  of  individuals.      In 
1 86 1  a  revision  of  the  "Book  of  Discipline"   took 
place,  which   reflected  and  sanctioned    the  relaxa- 
tion   of    supervision   in    regard    to    these    matters. 
In  that  year  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth    query 


l64  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

relating  to  "  plainness  of  speech,  behaviour,  and 
apparel,"  was  dropped,  and  other  changes  were 
made  in  the  queries  then  in  use.  The  Yearly 
Meeting,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  no  longer 
requires  that  any  of  the  queries  should  be  answered, 
except  those  which  regard  the  regularity  with  which 
meetings  are  held  and  attended.  These  changes 
hav^e  meant  in  practice  that  the  maintenance  of  all 
our  special  "  testimonies  "  is  now  (like  that  against 
tithes)  "  left  to  the  individual  conscience,"  and  not 
inquired  into  by  the  meetings  for  discipline ;  and 
the  immediate  result  has,  of  course,  been  a  great 
outward  and  visible  alteration — a  rapid  disappear- 
ance of  distinguishing  peculiarities,  and  no  doubt 
an  immense  relief  to  the  younger  members. 

A  more  direct  result  of  the  "  evangelical " 
influence  of  the  Gurneys,  and  others  like-minded, 
was  the  setting-in  of  a  current  of  activity  in  all 
sorts  of  benevolent,  philanthropic,  and  missionary 
directions.  The  old  dread  of  "  creaturely  activity," 
— of  moviog  in  any  kind  of  religious  work  without 
an  immediate  prompting  and  even  constraining 
influence  from  above,  —  seems  to  have  in  some 
degree  given  place  to  a  fear  of  burying  our  talent. 
The  Christian  duty  of  going  forth  to  seek  and  to 
save,  of  holding  forth  the  word  of  life,  and  letting 
our   light  shine  before  men,  had  been  beautifully 


Ol'R   CALLING.  165 

exemplified  by  some  eminent  men  and  women  in 
the  Societ}-.  Man)-  of  tlic  >-oungcr  Friends  caught 
the  flame  of  their  zeal,  and  from  all  quarters,  in 
these  modern  da\-s,  influences  combine  to  make 
that  "sitting  still,"  in  which  an  earlier  generation 
of  Friends  had  found  their  strength,  appear  almost 
an  impossibility. 

With  the  new  rising  tide  of  fervent  zeal  and 
benevolence  came  a  great  change  in  the  prevailing 
tone  of  religious  feeling.  The  Bible,  which,  in 
their  dread  lest  the  letter  should  usurp  the  place 
of  the  spirit,  had  amongst  Friends  been  almost 
put  under  a  bushel,  was  brought  into  new  pro- 
minence, and  so-called  "evangelical"  views  re- 
specting the  unique  or  exceptional  nature  of  its 
inspiration  began  to  be  entertained.  Gradually 
the  idea  of  the  necessity  of  teaching  "  sound 
doctrine"  assumed  an  importance  which  had 
formerly  been  reserved  for  that  of  looking-  for 
"  right  guidance ;  "  and  in  some  quarters  a  visible 
tendency  has,  of  late  years,  been  manifest  towards 
more  definition  of  doctrines  and  popularizing  of 
methods  than  would  have  been  tolerated  half  a 
century  ago.* 

*  Many  other  causes  have,  no  doubt,  been  at  work  in  bringing 
about  the  changes  referred  to  in  the  text.  I  am,  indeed,  not  qualified 
to  attempt  anything  like  an  adequate  account,  on  however  slight 
a  scale,  of  the   recent  history  of  the  Society,   and  have  desired  in 


1 66  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

Although  these  modern  tendencies  have  un- 
doubtedly been  accompanied  by,  and  have  prob- 
ably is  some  degree  led  to,  an  increase  in  our 
numbers,  a  strong  protest  has  from  time  to  time 
been  raised  against  them  by  those  who  feel  that 
Quakerism  had  its  root  and  its  strength  in  a  deep 
inward  and  spiritual  experience  which  frees  from 
all  dependence  upon  outward  things.  In  America 
the  protest  against  (or,  as  those  who  protest  would 
no  doubt  rather  say,  the  introduction  of)  this 
modern  phase  of  comparatively  superficial  religious 
activity  has  caused  grievous  schisms  and  troubles. 
About  the  year  1826,  a  large  party,  under  the 
leadership  of  one  Elias  Hicks,  in  that  country 
broke  off  altogether  from  the  main  body  of  Friends, 
and  is  suspected  by  the  "  orthodox "  of  having, 
under  professed  obedience  to  the  inner  light,  be- 
come practically  a  Unitarian  or  rationalist  body. 
In  England,  however,  the  two  main  currents  have 
flowed  side  by  side,  and  have  not  resulted  in  any 
considerable  division  of  the  stream. 

Both  parties  claim  to  be  taking  their  stand 
upon  the  original  principles  of  the  early  Friends. 
Those  who  uphold  above  all  things  the  doctrine 
of  the    inner  light,   and  the    primary  necessity  of 

this  passage  only  to  indicate  the  general  direction   of  the  principal 
division  of  parties  amongst  us. 


OUR   CALLING.  167 

immediate    inspiration   and  guidance  to  the  brincr- 
ing  forth  of  any  good  word  or  work,  and  especially 
to   the    performance  of    an)'   acceptable   worship, 
have  abundant  evidence  to  produce,  in  tlie  writin^-s 
of  Fox,  Barclay,  Penn,  Penington,  and  other  fathers 
of  the  Society,  that  this  was   the   foundation  and 
the   constant  burden  of  all   their  teaching.     Those, 
on  the  other  hand,  who  are  throwing  themselves 
heart  and  soul  into  missionary  and  "  evangelistic  " 
efforts,    say    truly   enough  that   the  early    Friends 
did  not  so  "  wait  for  guidance  "  as  to  be  content 
to    sit    still    and    make     no    effort    to    lighten    the 
darkness  around  them,  and  that  it  was  the   inter- 
mediate or  "  mediaeval,"  not  the  "  primitive  "  teach- 
ing   of  the    Society  which   exalted  the   individual 
consciousness     into    the    supreme    authority,    thus 
developing,  in  fact,  a  claim  to  something  approach-    / 
ing  personal  infallibility. 

There  are,  of  course,  dangers  in  either  extreme — 
in  the  over-valuation  of  visible  and  tangible  ac- 
tivity,  and  in  the  undue  intensity  of  introspective 
quietism.  Too  much  "  inwardness "  seems  to  n^ 
develop  an  extraordinary  bitterness  and  spirit  of 
judgment,  under  the  shadow  of  which  no  fresh 
growth  would  be  possible.  It  is  obviously  danger- 
ous to  sanity.  Too  much  "outwardness"  dilutes 
and  destroys  the  very  essence  of  our   testimony, 


i68  QUAKhR   STRONGHOLDS. 

encourages  a.  worthless  growth  of  human  depend- 
ence, and  can  hardly  fail  to  be  dangerous  to  sin- 
cerity. But  yet  the  divergence  is,  I  believe,  a  case 
rather  of  diversity  of  gifts  and  functions  than  of 
contradiction  in  principle.  Both  functions  are 
surely  needed.  Where  a  living  fountain  is  really 
springing  up  within,  it  must  needs  tend  to  over-  < 
flow.  The  leaves  and  blossoms  are  as  essential  to 
the  health  and  fruitfulness  of  a  tree  as  its  root. 
The  secret,  as  I  believe,  of  the  strength  of  our 
Society,  its  peculiar  qualification  for  service  in 
these  days,  lies  in  its  strong  grasp  of  the  oneness  of 
the  inward  and  the  outward,  as  well  as  in  the  deep 
and  pure  spirituality  of  its  aim  in  regard  to  both. 

There  is,  I  believe  and  am  sure,  a  special  and 
urgent  need  in  these  days  for  that  witness  to  the 
light — light  both  within  and  without — which  was 
the  special  office  of  early  Quakerism.  I  am  not 
equally  sure  that  Quakerism,  as  it  is,  is  the  vehicle 
best  adapted  to  convey  that  testimony  to  the  pre- 
sent generation.  If  it  be  not  so,  it  is  largely  the 
fault  of  our  degeneracy  as  a  body;  of  the  lapse 
of  our  Society  into  a  rigid  formalism  during  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  into  a  shallow  seeking  for 
popularity  in  the  nineteenth.  But,  in  spite  of  all 
such  right-hand  and  left-hand  defections  it  seems 
to   me  that  there    is    life    enough   yet    in   the  old       ; 


OUR    CALLING.  169 

tree  for  a  fresh  growth  of  fruit-bearing  branches. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  framework  of  the  Society 
has  vigour  and  elasticit)-  enough  yet  to  be  used  as 
an  invaluable  instrument  by  a  new  generation  of 
fully  convinced  Friends,  were  our  younger  members 
but  fully  willing  and  resolved  to  submit  to  the 
necessary  Divine  discipline.  It  is  no  new  wave 
of  "creaturely  activity,"  no  judicious  adapting  of 
Quakerism  to  modern  tastes,  that  will  revive  its 
power  in  the  midst  of  the  present  generation.  It 
is  a  fresh  breaking  forth  of  the  old  power,  the 
unchanging  and  unchangeable  power  of  light  and 
truth  itself,  met  and  invited  by  a  fresh  sub- 
mission of  heart  in  each  one  of  us,  which  can  alone 
invigorate  what  is  languishing  amongst  us,  and 
make  us  more  than  ever  a  blessing  to  the  nation. 

Had  this  power  ever  wholly  disappeared  from 
amongst  us,  there  would  be  little  use  in  dwelling 
fondly  upon  its  deserted  tenement.  It  is  because 
a  measure  of  the  ancient  spirit  is  still  to  be  recog- 
nized amongst  our  now  widely  scattered  remnant 
that  I  would  fain  stij-  it  up,  amongst  our  own 
members  especially,  and  if  possible  also  amongst 
others,  by  means  of  the  experience  actually  ac- 
quired by  our  Society  of  the  power  of  an  exclu- 
sively spiritual  religion. 

It  is,  I  hope,  hardly  necessaiy  to  repeat  that  it 


l7o  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

is  not  Quakerism,  but  Truth,  that  I  desire  to  serve 
and  to  promote  ;  the  sect  may  no  longer  be  what 
is  needed,  and  may  be  destined  to  extinction,  for 
aught  I  know.  But  that  view  of  Truth  which  has 
found  in  Quakerism  its  most  emphatic  assertion, — 
that  purely  spiritual  worship  and  that  supremacy 
of  the  light  within  which  were  set  forth  with 
power  by  Fox  and  Barclay  and  Penington, — these 
things  are  of  perennial  value  and  efficacy,  and  the 
need  for  their  fresh  recognition  seems  to  be  in  our 
own  day  peculiarly  urgent. 

There  can,  indeed,  be  no  rivalry  between  in- 
ward and  outward  light.  Light,  we  know,  is 
one,  and  there  can  be  no  contradiction  between 
its  various  manifestations,  although  there  may,  of 
course,  be  any  amount  of  contradiction  between 
the  respective  visions  of  different  people.  It  seems, 
indeed,  as  idle  to  look  for  an  absolutely  colourless 
medium  within  as  without,  in  our  own  hearts  as  in 
the  Bible  or  the  Church;  and  upon  each  one  lies 
the  responsibility  of  accepting  correction  from  all 
quarters.  Yet  for  each  one  of  us  there  must  be 
a  final  authority;  and  I  do  not  see  how  that 
authority  can  be  found  elsewhere  than  in  the 
inmost  chamber  of  our  own  hearts,  for  it  is  by  that 
authority  alone  that  we  can  be  justified  even  in 
choosing   any  external    guide.       It  is,  indeed,  im- 


OUR  CALLING.  171 

possible  for  any  one  who  recognizes  the  shining  of 
light  within  to  doubt  its  supreme  authority. 

To  speak  of  light  shining  in  one's  own  heart  as 
something  not  conclusive  for  oneself  would  be 
almost  a  contradiction  in  terms.  But  just  because 
it  is  within  one's  own  heart,  its  range  is  strictly 
limited.  My  inner  light  can  be  no  rule  (though  in 
a  sense  it  may  be  as  a  lamp)  for  any  one  else,  for 
the  very  reason  which  forbids  me  to  dispute  it. 
Each  one  surely  owes  an  exclusive  allegiance  to 
that  ray  of  Divine  light  which  shines  straight  into 
his  own  inmost  sanctuary. 

It  is,  therefore,  no  disloyalty  to  the  light  within 
to  acknowledge  the  need  of  an  outward  standard 
for  purposes  of  united  action  or  mutual  judgment, 
or  to  accept  an  outward  test  of  the  reality  of  our 
possession  of  inward  light  Those  who  have 
learnt  to  recognize  in«the  light  within  the  radiance 
of  the  Divine  Word  will  acknowledge  no  lower 
voice  as  the  supreme  authority  without;  and  will 
accept  no  other  test  of  its  realit)'  than  that  assigned 
by  Christ  Himself — righteousness  of  life. 

Friends  have  always  without  hesitation  accepted 
the  Bible  as  the  one  common  standard  by  which 
their  practice  and  their  teaching  should  be  tried,* 

*  Robert  Barclay,   who  was   for  generation  after  generation   re- 
garded as  the  main  pillar  of  theoretic  Quakerism,  plainly  declares 


172  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

and  have  acknowledged  from  the  first  that  no  claim 
to  Divine  inspiration  could  be  justified  except  by 
the  actual  possession  of  the  righteousness  taught  by 
Christ  Himself  in  word  and  in  deed — a  righteous- 
ness "  exceeding  that  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees." 
And  here  we  come  upon  the  fact,  not  always 
sufficiently  remembered,  that  the  indispensable 
words  "  inward  "  and  "  outward  "  need  care  in  the 
handling.  It  is  of  great  importance  to  my  whole 
subject  that  the  different  senses  in  which  they  may^ 

the  Scriptures  to  be  "a   secondary  rule" — subordinate,    that   is,   to 
the   teaching   of  the    Spirit   by   which    they    were   given    forth.     He 
anticipates   many    now   familiar   reflections   about   the   inherent   un- 
certainties   of   interpretation    and    application    which    preclude    the 
possibility  of  our  finding  in  any  written  words  a  sufficient  guide  in 
the  infinite  variety  of  individual  circumstances ;  and  also  recognizes 
fully  the  many  sources  of  error  appertaining  to  writings  so  ancient, 
and  derived  through  so   many   differing  versions    and  translations. 
He  declares,  however,   that   "because  they  are  commonly  acknow- 
ledged by  all   to  have  been   written  by   the  dictates  of  the    Holy 
Spirit,  and  that  the  errors  which  may  be  supposed  by  the  injury  of 
Times    to    have    slipt    in   are  not  such  but  that  there  is  a  sufficient 
clear  Testimony  left  to  all  the  essentials  of  the   Christian   faith,  we 
do  look  upon  them  as  the  only  fit  outward  judge  of  controversies 
amongst   Christians,"    and  adds  that  "we   are  very  willing   that  all 
our  doctrines  and  practices  shall  be  tried  by   them;"  and  that  "  we 
shall  also  be  very  willing  to  admit,   as  a  positive   certain  maxim, 
That  whatsoever  any  do,  pretendbig  to  the  Spirit,  which  is  contrary 
to  the  Scriptures,  be  accounted  and  reckoned  a  Delusion  of  the  Devil. 
For    as  we   never  lay   claim   to  the  Spirit's  leadmgs  that  we  may 
cover  ourselves  in  anything  that  is  evil;  so  we  know,  that  as  every 
evil  contradicts  the  Scriptures,  so  it  doth  also  the  Spirit  in  the  first 
place,   from   which    the   Scriptures    came "     (Barclay's    "  Apology," 
p.  86  :  London,  1736). 


OUR    CALLING. 


'/ j 


be  applied  should  be  kept  in  mind.  I  have  already* 
pointed  out  that  the  mystical  meaning  of  "  within  " 
tir  "  inwardness  "  is  not  the  only  one  upon  which 
we  insist. 

This  well-known  Quaker  watchword  must  always 
be  understood  as  asserting  not  only  that  light  is  to 
be  found  by  retiring  into  the  inmost  chamber  of 
one's  own  heart,  but  also  that  it  is  intrinsic,  essen- 
tial, original  ;  that,  coming  from  within,  it  must, 
if  real,  illuminate  the  whole  being.  Righteousness, 
the  fruit  and  result  of  obedience  to  light,  is  in  this 
sense  both  inward  and  outward;  it  is  external, 
but  not  extraneous  ;  outward  in  the  sense  of  being 
visible,  tangible,  open  to  the  light  of  day — a  thing 
which,  however  it  may  be  defined  or  accounted 
for,  is  universally  recognizable,  and  is  acknowledged 
by  all  as  justifying  the  teaching  which  produces 
it;  it  is  not  outward  in  the  sense  of  coming  from 
without,  or  of  being  in  any  degree  arbitrary,  or 
accidental,  or  dependent  upon  the  judgment  of  our 
fellow-creatures;  it  is  a  natural,  not  an  artificial, 
test  and  result  of  the  inward  state.  Neither  is  it 
outward  in  the  sense  of  appertaining  only  to 
what  is  visible.  It  does,  indeed,  impress  its  stamp 
even  upon  the  very  frame,  and  of  course  it  consists 
largely  in  a  visible  and   real   dominion  of  the  mind 

*  "  The  Inner  Light,"  pp.  23-26, 


174  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

over  the  body ;  but  it  is,  in  its  origin  and  essence, 
of  the  spirit,  not  of  the  flesh. 

It  was  the  constant  and  vigorous  seeking  for  and 
application  of  this  test  of  righteousness  which  dis- 
tinguished the  early  Friends  from  mere  mystics. 
Those  "  Friends  of  the  Light "  were  not  content  to 
brood  over  a  hght  shut  in  to  their  own  hearts. 
They  let  it  shine  freely  before  men,  boldly  pro- 
claiming its  universality,  and  calling  all  men  to 
walk  in  it.  They  stoutly  claimed  that  it  was  the 
light  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,  the  very  Sun  of 
Righteousness,  and  that  the  light,  spirit,  and  grace 
of  Christ  in  their  own  hearts  was  one  with  the 
spirit  in  which  the  Scriptures  were  given  forth. 
Above  all,  they  insisted  that  the  light  was  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  and  must  lead  into  all  truth ;  not 
into  omniscience  or  infallibility,  but  into  truth  in 
the  inmost  parts — truth  in  word,  in  thought,  and 
in  deed.  Thus  they  recognized  the  great  truth 
that  the  light  within  and  the  light  without  are  alike 
aspects  of  the  Eternal  Word  of  God — that  Word 
which,  abiding  in  us,  is  our  Eternal  Life. 

Light  within — not  the  vision  of  the  mystic  alone, 
but  cleanness  of  heart,  uprightness,  sincerity, 
singleness  of  mind — of  this  light  they  affirmed  that 
every  living  soul  had  some  germ,  which,  as  it  was 
attended    to,   would   lead  out  of  the  evil    it  con- 


OUR  CALLING.  175 

derailed.  And  the  glory  of  their  teaching  was  that 
it  summoned  each  human  spirit  to  work  out  its 
own  salvation — in  fear  and  in  trembling  truly,  and 
in  the  strength  of  God  working  with  and  in  it, 
but  without  dependence  on  any  human  being,  ox 
on  anything  perishable,  or  disputable,  or  accidental ; 
to  repent,  and  to  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repent- 
ance ;  to  walk  soberly,  as  children  of  the  day. 

This  is  what  I  mean  by  the  pure  spirituality  of 
the  aim  of  Friends  both  as  to  the  inwa'd  and  the 
outward.  The  inner  light  they  desire  to  walk  in  is 
not  an  intellectual  but  a  purifying  light ;  it  consists 
not  in  rapture,  ecstasy,  sensation,  but  in  clear  in- 
sight into  the  deepest  kind  of  truth;  it  leads  not 
to  knowledge,  but  to  holiness, — which  is,  indeed, 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  It  shines  in  quietness ; 
and  in  order  to  cherish  it  we  must  lay  aside  our 
preoccupation  with  the  vivid  and  clamorous  and 
transitory  things  that  are  without,  dwelling  In  still- 
ness upon  what  is  eternal,  that  all  things  may  be 
revealed  in  their  true  proportions.  It  courts  and 
acknowledges  an  outward  test ;  but  that  test  con- 
sists in  the  cjuality  of  its  own  outward  results,  as 
commending  themselves  to  every  man's  conscience, 
and  reveals  itself  not  in  a  conformity  to  other 
people's  teaching,  but  in  a  transforming  power. 
The  outward  stamp  we  value  is  not  a  stamp  or  sign 


176  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

applied  or  administered  from  without  and  by 
material  means,  but  the  outward  and  visible  radi- 
ance of  the  flame  kindled  within.  The  supremacy 
of  the  inner  light  as  recognized  by  us  is  the 
supremacy  of  the  fountain  over  the  stream,  and 
the  cleanness  and  cleansing  power  of  the  stream  is 
the  proof  of  the  purity  of  the  fountain.  It  is  in 
fixing  attention  upon  moral  and  spiritual  results, 
rather  than  upon  precision  of  doctrine  or  correct- 
ness of  ceremonial  observance,  that  Friends  have, 
I  believe,  hit  the  right  nail  on  the  head.  In  our 
own  day,  as  in  George  Fox's  day,  this  direct  appeal 
to  conscience  is  surely  the  one  unfailing  means  by 
which  men  and  women  can  be  "  turned  to  the 
light,"  brought  to  recognize  Him  who  is  the 
Light,  and  taught  to  find  in  Him  their  everlasting 
rest — the  rest  which  is  the  beginning  of  power 
and  of  victory. 

If  we  be  right  in  our  belief  that  the  salvation  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  a  purely  spiritual  influence,  a  flame 
which  finds  in  every  human  heart  some  prepared 
fuel,  and  which  is  to  be  spread  from  heart  to  heart 
as  fire  is  kindled  from  torch  to  torch ;  which  is  to 
be  maintained  not  by  rites  and  ceremonies,  and 
"  the  apostolical  succession  "  of  outward  ordination, 
but  by  that  turning  from  dead  works  to  serve  the 
living  God  which  is  in  the  power  of  every  living 


OUR    CALLING.  177 

soul,  and  which  no  one  can  perform  for  another ; — 
if  this  view  be  true,  then  Friends  have  yet  a  great 
work  to  do  in  promulgating  it,  and  a  great  respon- 
sibility in  having  received  it  as  an  inheritance. 

For  this  is  not  yet  the  commonly  accepted  view. 
The  Christianity  which  has  spread  and  flourished 
is  still  deeply  saturated  with  reliance  upon  outward 
rites  and  outward  ordinances,  and  deeply  entangled 
with  rigid  formularies.  It  is  largely  composed  of 
creeds  and  doctrines,  which,  whether  theoretically 
true  or  false,  are  yet  capable  of  being  held  in 
unrighteousness,  and  incapable,  therefore,  of  truly 
redeeming  the  souls  who  trust  in  them.. 

Most  Christians  say  or  assume  that  these  things 
are  vitally  helpful  to  them.  I  dare  not  presume  to 
say  that  they  are  wrong,  though  I  own  that  I  think 
the  assumption  too  conventional  to  be  conclusive. 
But  of  one  thing  I  am  quite  sure.  There  is  a 
great  and  increasing  multitude  amongst  us  who 
cannot  accept  outward  rites  or  clerical  teaching. 
We  -see  by  the  experience  of  Roman  Catholic 
countries  how  inevitably  the  spread  of  priestly 
influence  amongst  dc\out  women  is  accompanied 
by  the  utter  alienation  of  thinking  men  from 
religion  itself  I  fear  that  a  tendency  of  the  same 
kind    is   visible    in    England    now.     What   is    the 

proportion  of  men    to    women   to  be  seen  in   the 

N 


178  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

congregations  of  London  churches?  Is  it  not 
obvious  even  to  our  outward  senses  that  there 
is  something  in  modern  Christianity  which  the 
masculine  mind  rejects?  We  have,  indeed,  abun- 
dant proof  in  the  literature  of  our  day  that  this 
is  the  case.  Are  we  driven  to  conclude  that  it  is 
the  essence  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  which 
is  rejected  by  masculine  thought;  or  does  the 
stumbling-block  lie  in  human  additions  to  the 
teaching  of  Christ  Himself? 

I  cannot  doubt,  and  I  believe  few  of  the  worthiest 
representatives  of  masculine  thought  would  deny 
that  His  own  teaching,  as  we  have  it  in  the 
Gospels,  is  eternal  truth ;  as  secure  against  every 
storm  of  doubt  and  revolt  as  the  sun  in  heaven  is 
secure  against  the  whirlwind.  The  Christianity  of 
Jesus  Christ  Himself  is  the  Christianity  upon  which 
Friends  alone,  or  almost  alone,  have  boldly  taken 
their  stand  as  all-sufficient.  In  preaching  this 
essential  Christianity  we  can  appeal  with  boldness 
to  the  witness  in  every  human  heart ;  and  I 
venture  to  say  that  it  is  not  a  religion  for  women 
and  children  only,  but  one  which  appeals  to  and 
fortifies  the  best  instincts  of  manly  independence.* 


*  It  may  be  worth  while  to  mention  in  this  connection  that  there  is 
not,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  any  habitual  preponderance  of  women 
in    Friends'   meetings.      This  impression    is   confirmed    by    the  fact 


OUR   CALLING. 


170 


Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  I  attribute  the  whole 
jf  the  modern  revolt  from  religion  to  the  engraft- 
ing of  ecclesiastical  "  developments  "  upon  the 
simplicity  which  is  in  Christ.  I  know,  of  course, 
that  many  other  forces  tend  to  alienate  men  (and 
women  too)  from  God,  and  that  there  is  much  in 
the  progress  of  scientific  discovery  which  it  is 
difficult  to   reconcile   quickly  with   even   the   very 

that  the  number  of  habitual  "attenders"  (non-members)  at  oui 
meetings  is  given  (in  the  tabular  statement  prepared  for  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  1889)  as  follows:  — 

Males 2,962 

Females 3  086 

6,048 

The  rapid  growth  of  Friends'  First  Day  Adult  Schools  is  another 
significant  fact,  as  showing  the  openness  to  the  teaching  and  influence 
of  Friends  amongst  working  men,  and  at  the  same  time  the  energetic 
way  in  which  that  influence  is  being  used.  This  movement  began,  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  late  Joseph  Sturge,  in  Birmingham  in  1S45  ;  and 
it  appears,  from  the  annual  report  of  the  Friends'  First  Day  School 
Association,  that  the  number  of  adult  scholars  was  in  March,  1889, 
C3  follows :  — 

^'^''^ 17,591 

^'"""^n S.53S 


23,126 


The  Society  of  Friends,  it  should  be  remembered,  numbers  (including 
children)  only  15,574  members,  yet  the  teaching  in  these  schools  is 
entirely  undertaken  by  Friends  personally,  and  is,  I  believe,  done 
altogether  without  paid  help,  though  valuable  assistance  is  in  many 
cases  given  by  former  scholars. 


i8o  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

essence  of  religion.  It  is  because  the  ship  of  faith 
is  in  danger  that  I  long  to  see  it  lightened  of  un- 
necessary burdens.  It  is  because  men  are  ready 
enough  to  cast  from  them  all  thought  of  the  things 
which  belong  to  their  peace,  and  to  abandon  in 
despair  the  hope  which  alone  can  purify  their 
lives,  that  I  long  to  see  that  hope  disentangled 
from  whatever  is  worn  out  and  cumbersome  and 
unreasonable. 

Quakerism  in  its  origin  was  a  bold  and  successful 
struggle  to  do  this.  The  glory  of  early  Quakerism 
was  in  its  integrity,  in  its  uncompromising,  un- 
flinching requirement  that  the  life  should  bear 
witness  to  the  truth,  and  its  resolute  stand  against 
any  other  requirement.  The  "  inner  light "  was 
not  only  a  word  of  the  deepest  poetical  and  mys- 
tical significance ;  it  was  a  doctrine  of  sternest 
righteousness,  and  at  the  same  time  an  assertion 
of  resolute  independence.  Those  who  were  con- 
scious of  the  shining  of  Divine  light  into  their 
own  hearts  needed  no  priestly  absolution  or  inter- 
position. They  were  willing  to  stand  or  fall  by 
their  innocence  in  the  sight  of  all  men.  Their  very 
gaolers  often  trusted  them  to  convey  themselves  to 
their  distant  prisons  if  they  had  but  promised.  It 
was  well  known  in  those  early  days  that  a  Friend's 
word  was  as  good  as  his  bond ;   and  to  this  very 


OUR  CALLING.  i8i 

day  a  reputation  for  special  truthfulness  and  sobriety 
clings  to  them,  and  not,  I  believe,  without  reason. 

I  am  anxious  to  insist  upon  the  resolution  to 
maintain  a  hii^h  moral  standard  amongst  us,  not 
only  because  of  the  supreme  intrinsic  importance 
of  righteousness ;  not  only  because  I  believe  that 
as  religion  is  cleared  of  outward  and  ceremonial 
and  perishable  elements  this  indestructible  growth 
of  holiness  has  more  room  to  expand;  but  also 
because  it  cannot  be  denied,  and  should,  indeed, 
never  be  forgotten,  that  there  is  a  very  real  ground 
for  the  suspicion,  or,  at  any  rate,  the  jealous 
scrutiny,  with  which  any  peculiarly  exalted  spiritual 
aspirations  are  apt  to  be  regarded. 

There  is  a  well-known  and  very  awful  connection 
between  religious  emotion  and  emotions  arisino- 
from  sources  less  pure.  There  is  an  ever-present 
danger  lest  in  any  endeavour  to  stimulate  the  one 
we  should  rouse  the  'other,  and  a  still  worse  dangfer 
lest  the  lower  should  assume  the  garb  and  appear- 
ance of  the  higher.  The  history  of  religious  re- 
vivals affords  abundant  warning  of  the  danfjers 
inseparable  from  all  sudden  outbursts  of  feelin"" 
even  where  much  of  it  is  deep  and  true  and 
lasting. 

No  doubt  the  founders  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
had   their  share  of  such  instructive    and  at  times 


l82  (lUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

mortifying  experience.*  They  were  brave  men, 
and  knew  the  reahty  of  their  own  deep  experience, 
and  were  not  easily  discouraged  by  a  few  extra- 
vagances (they  appear,  indeed,  to  ha\'e  been  remark- 
ably few)  amongst  their  followers.  But  there  is 
reason  to  think  that  they  were  strongly  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  specially  guarding  the 
sobriety  becoming  the  children  of  the  day,  at  a 
time  when  their  own  preaching  was  working  in 
men's  minds  like  new  wine.  Besides  the  one  great 
and  invariable  safeguard  of  their  constant  preach- 
ing of  righteousness,  and  appeal  to  the  light  with- 
out as  the  test  of  the  reality  of  the  light  within, 
there  were  two  special  precautions  which  they  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously  took  against  the  danger 
of  spiritual,  or  (///(Ti'z-spi ritual,  excitement. 

One  of  these  was  the  full  recognition  that  the 
action  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  heart  con- 
sisted not  only  in  impulse  but  in  restraint,  and 
that  for  its  right  interpretation  the  part  of  the 
creature  was  to  be  quiet.  "  Stand  still  in  the  light  " 
is  one  of  the  familiar  burdens  of  George  Fox's  advice. 
Friends  were,  and  are  still,  as  carefully  taught  to 
submit  to  the  restraints  as  to  yield  to  the  impulses 
of  "best  wisdom."  To  "dwell  deep,"  to  "pause 
upon  it,"  not  to  proceed  unless  "way  opens,"  nor  on 

*  The  history  of  James  Naylor  is  the  best-known  case  in  point. 


OUR    CALLING.  183 

any  account  to  disregard  a  "  stop  in  one's  mind," — 
these  and  many  such  famihar  Quaker  admonitions 
show  by  how  much  "holy  fear"  their  zeal  has 
habitually  been  tempered. 

"  Quietism"  is,  indeed,  the  natural  accompaniment 
of  "  mysticism  "  (of  mysticism,  that  is,  in  the  sense 
of  belief  in  the  inner  light).     That  a  vivid  sense  of 
the  presence  of  the  Creator  should  bring  stillness 
to  the  creature  is  inevitable.     And  only  under  the 
restraining  and   controlling  power  of  the  deep  awe 
thus  inspired  can  it  be  safe  or  wholesome  for  the 
human  spirit  to  stand  in  the  immediate  presence  of 
its  own  Divine  Source.     There  was  surely  a  deep 
truth  in  the  old   Hebrew  feeling,  "Shall  man  see 
God  and  live  ?  "     Religious  emotion  need  not  be 
unreal  to  be  unwholesome.      The  deeper  the  chord 
stirred,  the  more  awful  the  danger  arising  from  any 
jarring    or     deviation    from   the   due   and    steady 
amount  of  tension. 

Another  precaution  against  the  danger  of  yield- 
ino-  to  excitement  or  to  immature  or  unguarded 
impulse,  is  provided  in  our  whole  system  of  "  Church 
government"  and  oversight,  and  especially  in  the 
importance  attached  to  ascertaining  "  Friends' 
unity"  with  any  proposed  religious  service  before 
proceeding  in  it.  This  is  a  curious  and  beautifully 
adapted   sheath   provided    for   the   buddings    of  a 


i84  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

ministry  which  is  free  in  the  sense  of  being  entirely 
spontaneous,  prompted  only  by  an  impulse  believed 
to  be  from  above.  It  is  by  no  means  an  unknown 
thing,  perhaps  not  even  an  uncommon  thing  (but 
of  this  I  speak  from  but  scanty  opportunities  of 
observation),  for  Friends  in  their  business  meetings 
to  discourage  "  concerns  "  which  do  not  appear  to 
them  to  be  justified  by  reasons  sufficiently  weighty, 
or  which  in  some  other  way  fail  to  commend  them- 
selves to  the  judgment  of  the  meeting. 

Not  only  directly,  but  also  by  the  indirect  effect 
of  the  value  thus  collectively  and  traditionally 
assigned  to  care  and  caution  in  handling  spiritual 
things,  do  these  recognized  practices  tend  to  in- 
culcate sobriety  and  patience.  And  above  all  it 
is  a  deeply  ingrained  feeling  in  the  Quaker  mind 
that  every  vessel  to  be  used  for  sacred  purposes 
must  before  all  things  be  clean.  Every  one  coming 
forward  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel  especially  must 
approve  himself,  or  herself,  in  the  full  light  of  day 
as  not  only  preaching,  but  living,  according  to  the 
Spirit  of  Truth. 

And  these  "ministers,"  be  it  remembered,  are 
not  people  leading  a  sheltered  and  separate  life; 
but  men  and  women  engaged  in  the  ordinary 
business  of  life,  following  trades  and  professions, 
and  sharing  in  all  the  daily  experiences  of  those 


OUR  CALLING.  1S3 

to  whom  tliev  minister.  Is  there  not  somethin<j 
pecuh'arly  adapted  to  the  needs  of  our  day  in  the 
combination  of  matter-of-fact,  wholesome,  sober 
independence  with  the  thorough-going  and  unre- 
served spirituaHty  and  purity  of  our  acknowledged 
aim — that,  namely,  of  living  under  the  immediate 
guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth  ? 

It  is  here  that  I  see  in  the  ideal  of  Quakerism 
the  one  perennially  right  and  fruitful  ideal  of 
Christian  life — obedience  to  truth  in  the  fullest  and 
highest  sense;  the  living  truth — not  truth  in  the 
sense  of  accurate  or  orthodox  belief  about  Christ, 
but  of  an  actual  partaking  of  His  Spirit,  who 
Himself  is  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life ;  a 
learning  through  obedience  to  know  His  voice,  and 
a  continual  witness-bearing  to  others  of  the  reality 
and  the  power  of  His  living  presence  and  teaching. 
We  can  bear  this  witness  in  one,  and  only  in  one, 
way ;  our  lives  must  be  penetrated  by  the  light — 
the  light  which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into 
the  world — penetrated  and  kindled  and  purified,  till 
they  too  shine  both  inwardly  and  outwardly.  The 
life  is  the  light  of  men. 

In  our  days  faith  is  challenged  at  every  point 
and  at  every  turn,  with  a  freedom  and  a  violence 
which  was  unknown  fifty  years  ago.  All  that  can 
be   shaken  is  being  shaken,  to  its  very  foundations- 


1 86  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

My  own  firm  belief  is  that,  though  full  of  danger, 
this  is  on  the  whole  a  natural,  a  necessary,  and,  in 
the  main,  a  beneficial  process.  Throw  a  large 
load  of  fuel  on  a  clear  fire,  and  for  a  time  it  may 
seem  doubtful  whether  it  is  not  extinguished ;  but 
if  the  flame  be  strong  enough,  it  will  rise  again 
through  the  smoke  and  dust,  and  burn  the  stronger 
for  what  it  has  mastered.  And  so  assuredly  will 
faith  in  whatever  is  truly  eternal  rise  above  all 
present  confusions  and  darkenings  of  counsel,  and 
burn  witli  fresh  power  in  those  hearts  which  have 
steadfastly  cleaved  to  truth,  be  its  requirements 
what  they  may. 

The  Society  of  Friends  has  always  refused  to 
require  adhesion  to  any  formularies  as  an  express 
or  even  implied  condition  of  membership ;  and 
surely  it  has  done  wisely.*  It  has  frankly  and 
steadily  accepted  the  Bible  as  the  one  common 
standard  and  storehouse  of  written  doctrine,  but  it 
has  always  had  the  courage  to  trust  unreservedly 

*  When  any  person  applies  for  membership,  the  Monthly  Meet- 
ing appoints  one  or  more  Friends  to  visit  the  applicant,  and  to 
report  to  the  meeting  the  result  of  tlie  interview,  before  a  reply  is 
given.  The  precise  conditions  to  be  fulfilled  in  such  cases  are 
novifhere  laid  down,  but  the  object  is  understood,  in  a  general  way, 
to  be  to  ascertain  that  the  applicant  is  fully  "  convinced  of  Friends' 
principles."  The  test  is  thus  a  purely  personal  and  individual  one, 
and  partakes  of  the  elasticity  which  characterizes  all  our  arrangements, 
and  which  is  felt  to  favour  the  fullest  dependence  upon  Divine 
guidance. 


OUR    CALLING.  187 

to  the  immediate  teaching  of  "  the  Spirit  which 
gave  forth  the  Scriptures  "  for  their  interpretation, 
and  for  the  leading  of  each  one  "into  all  truth;" 
it  has  hitherto  bjcn  true  to  its  belief  in  the  living 
Guide.  And  this,  I  am  convinced,  is  the  only 
belief  which  will  meet  the  needs  of  the  free  thought 

of  our  day. 

If  thought  is   to  be  truly  free,   in  the   sense  of 
fearless    and  unbiased,   it   must  not  only  be   open 
to  the  whole  range  of  experience,  but  it  must  be 
subject  to  the  correction  of  central  and  unchanging 
principles;    freedom    requires    stability    as    well  as 
openness.      I    believe  that  those  of  us    who    have 
learned  to  submit  to  correction  both  from  without 
and  from  within,  who  dare  to  face  at  once  every 
-real    fact,    and  every  necessary  process  of  mental 
discipline,  within  their  reach,  have  a  most  weight)- 
office  to  fill  amidst  the  troubled  thoughts  and  lives 
of  our  day.     For  while  human  nature  is  what  it  is, 
it    must    recognize,    how^ever  dimly,  that    it  needs 
not    only    to   be    fed    with    knowledge,    but   to  be 
strengthened  with   might  in  the  inner  man. 

People  want,  and  must  have  if  they  are  to  be 
spiritually  helped  at  all,  two  things  mainly  at  this 
moment,  as  I  believe.  They  want  a  higher,  purer, 
worthier  form  of  faith  and  worship  than  they  have 
been  accustomed  to  find  provided  for  them;  and 


1 88  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

they    want    stronger    proof  of  the    reality    of  the 
objects  of  faith  than  is  commonly  offered. 

By  a  higher,  purer,  worthier  form  of  faith  and 
worship,  I  do  not  mean  improved  formularies  or 
liturgies ;  I  mean  rather  that  openness  to  improve- 
ment which  is  precluded  by  fixed  forms,  and 
which  the  very  beauty  and  dignity  of  the  Anglican 
Liturgy  tends  to  impede.  They  want,  I  believe,  a 
manner  of  worship  which  shall  be  simpler,  more 
living  and  actual — truly  higher  and  purer  because 
less  intellectually  ambitious,  and  moie  freshly  in- 
spired by  human  needs  and  Divine  help ;  and  a 
manner  of  speaking  about  Divine  things  less  con- 
ventional, less  technical  and  artificial,  arising  more 
visibly  from  actual  experience,  and  based  more 
solidly  upon  common  ground.  They  want  not 
authorized  teachers,  but  competent  witnesses;  not 
to  listen  to  sermons  and  religious  "  services,"  how- 
ever admirable,  which  are  delivered  in  fulfilment 
of  a  professional  engagement,  within  prescribed 
bounds  of  orthodoxy,  at  stated  times  and  in 
regular  amount;  but  to  come  into  personal  con- 
tact with  those  who  have  seen,  felt,  encountered, 
the  things  of  which  they  speak  ;  and  who  speak 
not  because  they  are  officially  appointed  to  speak, 
but  out  of  the  fulness  of  the  heart  because  they 
must— people  who  dare  to  be  silent  when  they  have 


OUR    CALLING.  '89 

nothing  to  say,  and  who  are  not  afraid  to  acknow- 
ledge their  ignorance,  their  doubts,  or  their  per- 
plexities. We  are  becoming  critical  and  impatient 
of  conventionalities,  not  only,  as  I  believe,  because 
education  is  spreading,  but  also  because  we  are 
hungry  for  reality,  because  we  are  brought  face  to 
face  (by  the  astonishing  circulation  of  everything) 
with  all  manner  of  problems  which  are  awful 
enough  for  us  all,  and  doubly  awful  for  those 
whose  foundation  is  in  any  way  insecure.  In  the 
presence  —  and  in  these  days  every  corner  of  the 
land,  not  to  say  of  the  world,  is  in  a  sense  present 
to  our  mental  vision  —  in  the  presence  of  every 
variety  of  human  (and  animal)  misery,  of  vice  and 
crime  and  violence,  and  inherited  degradation  and 
disease,  of  changes  and  dangers  and  crumblings 
away  of  every  refuge,  who  can  wonder  if  men  and 
women  refuse  to  be  satisfied  with  shallow  or  con- 
ventional explanations  of  the  fearful  problems 
confronting  them  and  challenging  their  faith  ? 
The  glibness,  the  exasperating  completeness,  the 
unconscious  blasphemy,  of  many  "orthodox"  vin- 
dications of  Providence,  are  enough  to  disgust 
people  with  mere  orthodoxy. 

We  Christians  have  been  roughly  awakened  by 
the  storm,  and  are  beginning  to  recognize  that  we 
needed  such  a  correcting  and  sifting  of  our  thought 


I90  (2UAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

and  language  as  modern  attacks  are  abundantly  sup- 
plying. At  such  a  moment  it  is  surely  an  unspeak- 
able privilege  for  any  religious  body  to  be  entirely 
unshackled  by  creeds  and  formularies ;  to  have 
nothing  in  its  tradition  or  practices  to  hinder  it 
from  profiting  by  this  process  of  correction,  or 
from  uttering  its  perennial  and  unalterable  testi- 
mony in  the  freshest  and  most  flexible  and  modern 
language  it  can  command.  And  perhaps  it  is  a 
still  greater  privilege,  in  the  midst  of  this  Babel,  to 
have  learned  the  thrice-blessed  power  of  silence;  to 
have  secured  both  in  private  and  in  public  the 
opportunity  and  the  practice  of  dwelling  silently 
upon  that  which  is  unspeakable  and  unchangeable; 
of  witnessing  to  the  light  in  that  stillness  which  most 
clearly  reflects  the  Divine  glory,  in  which  the  accu- 
sations of  the  enemy  are  most  effectually  quenched. 
And  not  only  do  people  in  these  days  want 
purer  expressions  of  faith ;  they  need  also  stronger 
proofs  of  the  reality  of  its  objects.  I  do  not,  of 
course,  mean  new  proofs ;  I  do  not  mean  that 
really  new  evidence  can  ever  be  forthcoming  in 
favour  of  eternal  truth,  though  fresh  aspects  and 
illustrations  and  revelations  of  it  are  indeed  crowd- 
ing upon  us  day  by  day.  I  mean  rather  that  the 
battle  which  was  formerly  fought  by  single 
champions  here  and  there  has   now  broken    forth 


OUR   CALLING.  191 

along  the  whole  line ;  that  in  these  days,  whether 
we  will  or  no,  we  are  all  in  the  thick  of  the  fight  ; 
that  no  one  can  help  hearing  the  deepest  of  all 
truths  called  in  question  at  every  turn  ;  and  that 
we  need   weapons,  if  not  of   tougher  quality,  yet 
of  readier  use  and  more  thoroughly  proved,  more 
honestly    our    own,  than    those   which    may    have 
sufficed    in    former    times.      We   need,    I    believe, 
moral  and  spiritual  rather  than  merely  intellectual 
proof  of  the  reality  of  that  which  alone  can  satisfy 
the  human  spirit  in  its  deepest  needs.     Let  creeds, 
like  all    other   beliefs,    be    sifted,  and  tested,   and 
corrected,  and  proved  or  disproved,  and  in  every 
way  dealt  with  as  truth  may  require.     Those  whose 
one  object  is  truth  can  have  nothing  to  dread  from 
any  serious  and  legitimate  handling  of  any  ques- 
tion whatever.     But,  when  all  is  said  and  thought, 
it  remains  for  ever  true  that  man  cannot  by  search- 
ing find   out  God;  while   yet   without   Him   what 
good  shall  our  lives  do  us  ?     It  is  not  by  supplying 
people  with  the  wisest  and  truest  replies  to  their 
difficulties  that  they  can  be  effectually  armed  against 
them.     Second-hand  belief  is  poor  comfort  in  days 
when  authority  of  all  kinds  is  so  freely  discredited. 
And  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances  some- 
thing more  than  theory  is  required  for  victory. 
For  what,  after  all,  is  this  "  faith,"  which  above 


192  QUAKER  STRONGHOLDS. 

all  things  we  who  have  even  a  grain  of  it  must 
desire  to  hold  forth  to  others  ?  "  This  is  the 
victory  which  overcometh  the  world,  even  our 
faith."  It  is  a  power,  not  a  mere  belief;  and  power 
can  be  shown  only  in  action,  only  in  overcoming 
resistance.  Power  that  shall  lift  us  one  by  one 
above  temptations,  above  cares,  above  selfishness  ; 
power  that  shall  make  all  things  new,  and  subdue 
all  things  unto  itself;  power  by  which  loss  is 
transmuted  into  gain,  tribulation  into  rejoicing, 
death  itself  into  the  gate  of  everlasting  life  ; — is  not 
this  the  true  meaning  of  faith  ? 

I  see  no  possible  means  of  spreading  such  faith  as 
this  but  to  exercise  it;  in  our  own  persons,  as  the 
way  is  prepared  for  us,  to  work  righteousness,  to 
obtain  promises,  out  of  weakness  to  be  made  strong, 
to  wax  valiant  in  fight — yes,  and  to  receive  our  dead 
raised  to  life  again.  These  are  the  proofs  which  will 
convince  the  world  "  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment;"  these,  not  reasonings,  are  the  proofs 
of  a  Divine  Fountain  of  life  and  power  to  which 
Friends  have  been  taught  to  attach  weight.  For- 
mularies, even  the  most  perfect  in  their  day,  and 
the  most  venerable  in  their  origin,  will  wear  out. 
The  meaning  of  language  shifts,  and  the  changing 
lights  of  knowledge  distort  whatever  forms  do  not 
change  with  them ;    but  the  power  of  an  endless 


OUR    CALLING.  193 

life  will  never  lose  its  hold  on  human  hearts ;  and 
the  need  for  help  from  the  cloud  of  witnesses 
compassing  us  about  was  never  sorer  than  in  our 
own  days. 

Around  us  from  all  sides  comes  the  cry,  spoken 
or  unspoken,  "  Give  us  of  your  oil."  But  w^e  who 
are  not  unsupplied  are  being  sternly  taught  to 
reply,  "  Not  so  ;  but  go  ye  to  them  that  sell,  and 
buy  for  yourselves." 

"  To  them  that  sell."  The  "  water  of  life  "  is  for 
all  that  are  athirst;  the  "  wine  and  milk  "  are  with- 
out money  and  without  price.  But  the  oil,  the 
supply  of  light  for  other  lives,  this  must  truly  be 
bought  with  a  price.  Not  at  second-hand,  not  by 
sitting  at  our  ease  and  absorbing  the  thoughts  of 
others,  can  we  become  as  lamps  to  show  forth  the 
path  of  life.  Our  own  hearts  must  first  be  baptized 
with  fire,  and  our  knowledge  bought  at  the  cost  of 
suffering.  It  is  such  dea:  ly-bought  knowledge 
alone  w'hich  can  enable  any  one  to  raise  a  standard 
round  which  others  will  rally  in  fighting  the  good 
fight  of  faith. 

The  special  struggle  of  our  day  is  a  struggle  for 

truth.     We  who  have  been  bold  to  call  ourselves 

children   of  light,  shall  we   not  boldly  join  hands 

with    all  who    are   struggling    towards  the  light? 

Shall    we   not   be  willing  and  ready  to   lay  aside 

0 


194  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

every  weight, — not  only  every  hindering  possession 
or  habit,  but  every  vain  endeavour  to  bind  in  the 
truth  of  God  by  human  formularies  and  definitions, 
— and  unreservedly  trust  to  the  living  teaching  of 
the  Spirit  for  ourselves  and  others,  "looking  for 
God  ill  holiness,  that  we  may  behold  His  power 
and  glory?" 

Holiness — that  is,  obedience — is  surely  the  rock 
upon  which  alone  we  can  build  any  faith  that  will 
endure.  Standing  firmly  on  that  rock,  and  on  that 
only,  we  may  hope  to  catch  some  glimpses  of  the 
Divine  mysteries.  "Clouds  and  darkness  are 
round  about  Thee,  but  righteousness  and  truth  are 
the  habitation  of  Thy  throne."  It  ill  becomes  us 
to  attempt  to  explain  all  the  dealings  of  God  with 
man,  still  more  the  mysteries  of  the  Divine  Being 
and  Nature ;  and  that  which  must  for  ever  remain 
a  mystery  to  the  most  faithful  of  His  children  it  is 
idle  indeed  to  undertake  to  explain  to  others.  Yet 
let  us  never  flinch  from  bearing  witness  to  that  of 
which  through  these  awful  clouds  we  have  from 
time  to  time  been  permitted  to  obtain  some  broken 
vision.  Let  us  never  cease  to  do  what  in  us  lies 
to  persuade  our  fellows  to  lift  their  eyes  also  to 
the  heavens,  and  though  the  vision  may  tarry,  to 
wait  for  it  in  steadfast  patience.  They  may  call 
*    y.g  dreamers,  and  we  may  think  them  blind.     When 


OUR    CALLING.  195 

WQ.  speak  of  the  stars,  they  may  say  we  are  idly 
romancing  about  a  mere  painted  ceiling.  Rut  the 
end  is  not  yet.  No  roof  of  human  workmanship  wil 
endure  for  ever.  Sooner  or  later  all  that  is  of  earth 
must  perish  and  crumble  away.  Then  is  the  time 
for  the  children  of  light  to  "  lift  up  their  heads," 
knowing  that  "  their  redemption  draweth  nigh." 

For  beyond  all  words  and  all  proofs  lies  the  true 
anchorage  of  the  spirit,  to  which  every  firmly 
rooted  life  bears  a  witness  neither  needing  nor 
admitting  of  utterance.  Deeper  than  all  need  of 
mere  conviction  is  the  need  of  rest  and  stability. 
We  must  be  at  rest  before  we  can  be  free.  In 
quietness  and  in  confidence  is  our  strength.  While 
our  hearts  are  tossed  and  agitated  by  every  wave 
of  this  troublesome  world,  while  the  shadows  of 
passing  things  have  power  to  distract  and  confuse 
our  vision,  we  cannot  clearly  discern  that  truth 
which  alone  can  make  us   free. 

Truly  "there  remaineth  a  rest  for  the  people  of 
God ; "  a  satisfying,  soul-restoring  fulness  of  rest 
of  which  some  of  us  have  begun  to  taste.  Some 
of  us  know  assuredly  that  nothing  perishable  is  the 
habitation  of  our  spirits.  Some  of  us  know  what 
it  is  to  be  willingly  brought  into  an  order  flowing 
perceptibly  and  perpetually  from  the  one  un- 
changeable will  of  God,  in  which  alone  can  our 


196  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

own  will  be  harmonized  and  made  steadfast.  Some 
,.  of  us  are  learning  ever  more  and  more  fully  to 
accept  the  Father's  will  because  it  is  the  will  of 
the  Father,  entering  more  and  more  truly  day  by 
day  into  the  spirit  of  sonship.  To  experience  in 
our  own  hearts  the  harmonizing,  purifying,  in- 
vigorating power  of  the  Divine  will  is  to  be  at  rest 
for  ourselves  and  for  others ;  not  to  be  set  free 
from  suffering  or  to  become  indifferent  to  it,  but  to 
be  undisturbed  by  it — to  know  that  underneath  all 
the  agitations  of  the  creatures  are  the  everlasting 
arms ;  to  receive  strength  to  consent  to  whatever 
is  ordained  by  that  blessed  will,  and  to  resist  what- 
ever is  opposed  to  it. 

In  thus  taking  up  the  cross,  we  begin  to  see 
something  of  its  glory,  to  experience  something  of 
its  redeeming  power.  When  we  have  ourselves 
passed  from  death  unto  life,  having  been  led 
through  "sundry  kinds  of  death"  into  ever  fuller 
and  more  abundant  life,  then  indeed  we  can  bear 
witness  to  the  redeeming  power  of  Christ ;  then  we 
speak  of  what  we  do  know,  and  our  hands  have 
handled,  of  the  Word  of  life;  then  we  are  on  our 
own  ground. 

It  has  ever  been  our  belief  that  the  light  of 
Christ,  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  is 
(through  obedience  to  light,  even  while  in  ignorance 


OUR  CALLING.  197 

of  its  source)  purifying  the  hearts  of  many  who 
name  not  His  Name — who  are  not  yet  able  to 
recognize  the  blessed  Face  from  which  the  light 
shines.  But  the  fulness  of  "the  licrht  which  no 
man  can  approach  unto "  is  surely  reserved  for 
those  who  stand  before  the  throne  of  God  and  of 
the  Lamb,  and  with  full  purpose  of  heart  bow  in 
adoration  before  Him  that  sitteth  thereon. 

We  claim  to  be  a  people  who  have  found  rest  in 
God ;  a  people  building  our  house  upon  the  rock, 
through  obedience  to  those  "words  of  eternal  life" 
given  forth  by  Christ,  the  Word.  We  recognize 
His  Voice  as  speaking  to  us,  not  only  in  the  pages 
of  Scripture,  but  also  in  the  whole  course  of  life  as 
ordered  by  Him ;  and  yet  more  closely  in  the  inmost 
chamber  of  our  own  hearts ;  and  we  desire  to  yield 
to  it  an  undivided  allegiance. 

Our  calling  is,  as  branches  of  the  living  Vine,  to 
let  the  working  of  that  Voice,  Light,  Spirit,  and 
Grace  of  Christ  be  shown  forth  in  our  own  lives; 
and,  as  power  may  be  given  us,  to  bear  witness  of 
it  also  in  words ;  baptizing  and  being  baptized  into 
the  one  Name  in  which  alone  is  salvation. 

If,  therefore,  we  have  so  unassailable  a  stronghold' 
so  deep  and  immovable  a  foundation,  let  us  never 
cease  to  look  up  steadfastly  into  heaven,  if  so  be 
we  may  "  see  the  heavens   opened  ;"  that   we  may 


198  QUAKER   STRONGHOLDS. 

receive  into  our  hearts,  and  reflect  with  ever- 
increasing  fulness  in  our  lives,  the  rays  of  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness.  The  vision  may  indeed  be  in- 
tercepted again  and  again  by  the  driving  clouds ; 
our  sight  may  fail  or  falter ;  but  the  glory  itself  is 
unchangeable,  and  it  is  in  reflecting  that  glory  alone 
that  any  human  face  can  be,  to  those  that  stand  by, 
"  as  the  face  of  an  angel  " — of  a  Divinely  appointed 
messenger  of  glad  tidings. 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE  A. 

The  following  are  the  twelve  queries  now  read,  "at 
least  once  in  the  year,"  in  all  our  meetings.  The  parts 
of  the  second  and  tenth,  to  which  alone  answers  are 
required,  are  printed  in  italics.  It  should,  however,  be 
observed  that,  "with  regard  to  those  queries  to  which 
no  answer  is  required,  Monthly  Meetings  are  encouraged 
to  report  to  their  Quarterly  Meetings,  from  time  to  time, 
on  such  of  the  subjects  comprised  in  them,  as  they  may 
think  desirable.  Quarterly  Meetings  are  recommended 
to  transmit  such  reports,  or  a  summary  of  them,  to  the 
Yearly  Meeting."  * 

Queries. 

1.  What  is  the  religious  state  of  your  meeting?  Are 
you  individually  giving  evidence  of  true  conversion  of 
heart,  and  of  loving  devotedness  to  Christ  ? 

2.  Are  your  meetings  for  worship  regularly  held;  and 
how  are  they  attended?     Are  they  occasions  of  religious 

*  "  Book  of  Discipline,"  p.  229. 


200  APPENDIX. 

solemnity  and  edification,  in  which,  through  Christ,  our 
ever-living  High  Priest  and  Intercessor,  the  Father  is 
worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ? 

3.  Do  you  "walk  in  love,  as  Christ  also  hath  loved 
us"?  Do  you  cherish  a  forgiving  spirit?  Are  you 
careful  of  the  reputation  of  others  ;  and  do  you  avoid 
and  discourage  tale-bearing  and  detraction  ? 

4.  Are  you  individually  frequent  in  reading,  and 
diligent  in  meditating  upon,  the  Holy  Scriptures  ?  And 
are  parents  and  heads  of  households  in  the  practice  of 
reading  them  in  their  families  in  a  devotional  spirit, 
encouraging  any  right  utterance  of  prayer  or  praise  ? 

5.  Are  you  in  the  practice  of  private  retirement  and 
waiting  upon  the  Lord  ;  in  everything  by  prayer  and 
supplication,  with  thanksgiving,  making  your  requests 
known  unto  Him?  And  do  you  live  in  habitual  depen- 
dence upon  the  help  and  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ? 

6.  Do  you  maintain  a  religious  life  and  conversation 
as  becometh  the  gospel?  Are  you  watchful  against 
conformity  to  the  world  ;  against  the  love  of  ease  and 
self-indulgence ;  or  being  unduly  absorbed  by  your 
outward  concerns  to  the  hindrance  of  your  religious 
progress  and  your  service  for  Christ?  And  do  those 
who  have  children  or  others  under  their  care  endeavour, 
by  example  and  precept,  to  train  them  up  as  self-denying 
followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  ? 

7.  Do  you  maintain  a  faithful  allegiance  to  the 
authority  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  one  Head  of 
the  Church,  and  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls,  from 
whom  alone  must  come  the  true  call  and  qualification 
for  the  ministry  of  the  Word  ?     And  are  you  faithful  in 


APPENDIX.  20I 

your  testimony  to  the  freeness  and  spirituality  of  the 
gospel  dispensation  ? 

8.  Are  you  faithful  in  maintaining  our  Christian  testi- 
mony against  all  war,  as  inconsistent  with  the  precepts 
and  spirit  of  the  gospel  ? 

9.  Do  you  maintain  strict  integrity  in  all  your  trans- 
actions in  trade,  and  in  your  other  outward  concerns ; 
and  are  you  careful  not  to  defraud  the  public  revenue  ? 

10.  Are  your  meetings  for  Church  affairs  regularly 
held ;  and  hotv  are  they  attended  ?  Are  these  meetings 
vigilant  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  towards  their 
subordinate  meetings,  and  in  watching  over  the  flock  in 
the  love  of  Christ  ?  When  delinquencies  occur,  are  they 
treated  timely,  impartially,  and  in  a  Christian  spirit? 
And  do  you  individually  take  your  right  share  in  thp 
attendance  and  service  of  these  meetings  ? 

11.  Do  you,  as  a  Church,  exercise  a  loving  and 
watchful  care  over  your  younger  members  ;  promoting 
their  instruction  in  fundamental  Christian  truth,  and  in 
the  scriptural  grounds  of  our  religious  principles  ;  and 
manifesting  an  earnest  desire  that,  through  the  power  of 
Divine  grace,  they  may  all  become  established  in  the 
faith  and  hope  of  the  gospel  ? 

12.  Do  you  fulfil  your  part  as  a  Church,  and  as 
individuals,  in  promoting  the  cause  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness, and  the  spread  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  at 
home  and  abroad  ?     (1875.) 


202  APPENDIX. 

NOTE  B. 

Home  Mission  Committee  of  the  Yearly  Meeting. 

The  desire  felt  by  many  Friends  that  the  Society 
should,  in  a  more ■  systematic  manner  than  was  formerly 
thought  necessary,  recognize  and  provide  for  what  is 
called  "evangelistic"  and  "pastoral"  work,  led,  in 
1882,  to  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  on  "  Home  Missions."  This  Committee 
began  its  work  by  inviting  the  co-operation  of  the 
Monthly  and  Quarterly  Meetings,  and  in  its  first  Annual 
Report  it  mentions  that  ten  of  the  Quarterly  Meetings 
had  appointed  Committees  to  correspond  with  it ;  in 
the  next  year  thirteen  of  the  Quarterly  Meetings  were 
thus  in  correspondence  with  the  Home  Mission  Com- 
mittee ;  and  in  1887  the  Report  states  that  the  Home 
Mission  Committee  itself  includes  members  of  every 
Quarterly  Meeting  except  one. 

In  1 888,  the  number  of  Friends  working  in  connection 
with  the  Home  Mission  Committee  was  nineteen.  The 
Report  of  1889  speaks  of  a  considerable  extension  of  the 
work  of  the  Committee,  but  does  not  give  the  number  of 
workers. 

The  donations  and  subscriptions  received  by  the 
Committee  in  the  year  ending  May,  1889,  amounted  to 
^2333. 

The  work  undertaken  by  "  Home  Mission  Friends  "  is 
of  various  kinds ;  such  as  conducting  first  day  schools, 
Bible  classes,  temperance  meetings,  lecturing  on  Friends' 
principles,  in  some  neighbourhoods  visiting  the  sick  and 


APPENDIX.  203 

the  poor,  and  in  various  ways  endeavouring  to  build  up 
and  strengthen  meetings  which  seem  to  be  in  need  of 
help. 

Notwithstanding  the  large  measure  of  support  which 
the  Committee  has  met  with,  there  are  many  Friends 
who  feel  very  serious  hesitation  about  this  practice  of 
providing  "pastoral  care,"  and  who  fear  lest  it  should 
tend  to  weaken,  if  not  to  destroy,  the  force  of  our 
testimony  against  a  paid  or  humanly  appointed  ministry. 
The  danger  is  obvious;  and  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
estimate  the  degree  in  which  it  can  be  averted,  or  the 
force  of  the  reasons  for  encountering  it.  I  will  content 
myself  with  making  from  the  Reports  of  the  Committee 
a  few  extracts  bearing  upon  this  question. 

'•'We  have  been  forcibly  impressed  with  the  extent 
and  variety  of  openings  for  service  which  have  presented 
themselves  to  us.  Much  of  this  work  is  of  a  character 
which  can,  we  believe,  be  more  effectually  performed  by 
the  Society  of  Friends  than  by  any  other  religious 
body.  ...  In  two  instances  we  have  deemed  it  right  to 
give  pecuniary  assistance  to  Friends  who  felt  it  laid  upon 
them,  as  a  religious  duty,  to  give  the  whole  or  a  greater 
part  of  their  time  to  the  work.  .  ,  .  These  arrangements 
involve  no  bargain  or  understanding  whatsoever  for  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  their  work  has  been  largely 
of  an  organizing  character."     (18S3.) 

"  It  is  found  that  Friends  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
are  watchful  lest  a  separate  class  of  sujjported  ministers 
should  be  set  up,  and  this  is  a  matter  which  has  from 
the  first  received  our  very  serious  attention.  It  is  our 
practice,  when  a  Friend  has  offered  his  services  to  this 


204  APPENDIX. 

Committee,  not  to  enter  upon  the  question  of  the  amount 
or  manner  of  support  to  be  granted  him  until  after  he 
has  been  accepted  by  us.  We  have  carefully  avoided 
the  establishment  of  any  scale  of  maintenance,  each 
case  being  separately  considered  on  the  basis  of  the 
actual  needs  and  circumstances  of  the  Friend  in  ques- 
tion ;  and  we  have  encouraged  Friends,  where  practi- 
cable, to  contribute  by  their  labour  to  their  own 
support."     (1886.) 

"We  are  glad  to  report  an  increase  in  the  number 
of  those  who  require  no  pecuniary  assistance  beyond 
necessary  expenses  when  actually  on  religious  service. 
About  half  the  workers  are  living  on  their  private  means, 
or  partially  maintaining  themselves  by  their  labour. 
About  half  of  the  number  may  also  be  considered  as 
stationed  more  or  less  in  one  place,  and  the  remainder  as 
engaged  in  evangelistic  visits  to  various  towns  as  way 
may  open.  Of  the  resident  workers,  several  have  tra- 
velled with  minutes  from  their  Monthly  Meetings,  or 
have  rendered  temporary  assistance  to  particular  meet- 
ings by  request  of  other  Monthly  Meetings  than  their 
own.  .  .  .In  the  meetings  where  our  workers  are  resi- 
dent, the  voices  of  many  new  members  are  frequently 
heard  in  exhortation  and  prayer.  In  one  of  them  a 
visiting  Friend  desired  a  meeting  with  all  those  who 
took  vocal  part  in  meetings.  No  fewer  than  thirteen 
responded  to  his  invitation,  while  three  or  four  more 
were  prevented  by  other  engagements.  .  .  .  We  believe 
our  workers  are,  without  exception,  loyal  to  the  testimony 
of  the  Society  against  the  establishment  directly  or 
indirectly,  of  a  'one-man  ministry.'  .    .    .  Since  the  for- 


APPENDIX.  205 

mation  of  this  Committee  there  is  hardly  a  Quarterly 
Meeting  in  which  they  "  (the  Friends  engaged  in  "  evan- 
gelistic "  work)  "  have  not  travelled,  in  several  of  them 
many  times  and  for  many  weeks  together.  .  .  ,  Some  of 
these  visits  have  originated  in  concerns  of  the  Friends 
themselves.  In  other  cases  the  way  has  been  made  for 
them  by  an  invitation  of  a  Quarterly,  Monthly,  or  parti- 
cular Meeting,  or  the  Committee  of  some  Friends'  mis- 
sion or  adult  school.  In  no  case  has  this  Committee 
deemed  it  consistent  to  send  any  worker  anywhere,  or  to 
do  more  than  lay  such  invitation  before  him,  leaving  it  to 
his  own  conviction  of  duty  as  to  whether  he  can  see  his 
way  to  accept  it  or  not."     (18SS.) 

"With  one  exception,  every  Friend  in  connection  with 
us  has  been  engaged  during  the  year  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent  in  work  outside  the  meeting  in  which  he  resides." 
(1889.) 


NOTE    C. 

Slavery. 

In  the  introduction  by  J.  G.  Whittier  to  a  recent 
edition  of  JohnWoolman's  '  'Journal, '  '*  there  is  a  remark- 
able account  of  the  manner  in  which  our  Society  in 
America  was  gradually  freed  from  all  complicity  with 
slavery,  long  before  the  struggle  for  its  abolition  was 
begun  elsewhere ;  from  which  I  venture  to  make  some 
extracts,  for  the  sake  of  the  illustration  it  affords  of  the 
working  both  of  our  principles  and  of  our  machinery. 

*  Published  by  Robert  Smeal,  Glasgow,  1883. 


2o6  APPENDIX. 

From  the  time  of  George  Fox  himself,  who  in  1671 
visited  Barbadoes,  and  admonished  those  who  held 
slaves  there  to  bear  in  mind  that  they  were  brethren, 
and  that  "after  certain  years  of  servitude  they  should 
make  them  free,"  voices  had  been  raised  again  and  again 
in  several  of  the  American  meetings  to  witness  against 
the  buying  and  keeping  of  slaves. 

In  1742,  John  Woolman,  then  in  the  employment  of 
a  small  storekeeper  in  New  Jersey,  was  desired  by  his 
master  to  make  out  a  bill  of  sale  of  a  negro  slave-woman. 
"  On  taking  up  his  pen,"  says  Whittier,  "  the  young  clerk 
felt  a  sudden  and  strong  scruple  in  his  mind.  The 
thought  of  writing  an  instrument  of  slavery  for  one  of  his 
fellow-creatures  oppressed  him.  God's  voice  against  the 
desecration  of  His  image  spoke  in  his  soul.  He  yielded 
to  the  will  of  his  employer,  but  while  writing  the  .instru- 
ment he  was  constrained  to  declare,  both  to  the  buyer 
and  the  seller,  that  he  believed  slave-keeping  incon- 
sistent with  the  Christian  religion."  This  circumstance 
"  was  the  starting-point  of  a  lifelong  testimony  against 
slavery. 

"  In  the  year  1746,  he  visited  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
North  Carolina.  He  was  afflicted  by  the  prevalence  of 
slavery.  It  appeared  to  him,  in  his  own  words,  '  as  a 
dark  gloominess  overhanging  the  land.'  On  his  return, 
he  wrote  an  essay  on  the  subject,  which  was  published 
in  1754.  Three  years  after,  he  made  a  second  visit  to 
the  Southern  meetings  of  Friends.  Travelling  as  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  he  was  compelled  to  sit  down  at 
the  tables  of  slave-holding  planters,  who  were  accustomed 
to  entertain  their  friends  free  of  cost,  and  who  could  not 


APPENDIX.  207 

comprehend  the  scruples  of  their  guest  against  receiving 
as  a  gift  food  and  lodging  which  he  regarded  as  the  gains 
of  oppression.  He  was  a  poor  man,  but  he  loved  truth 
more  than  money.  He  therefore  placed  the  pay  for  his 
entertainment  in  the  handsof  some  member  of  the  family, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  slaves,  or  gave  it  directly  to  them, 
as  he  had  opportunity.  .    . 

"  The   annual    assemblage    of  the   Yearly    Meeting 
in    175S  at    Philadelphia*  must   ever   be   regarded    as 
one   of  the   most  important  religious  convocations  in 
the  history  of  the  Christian  Church.     The  labours  of 
Woolman  and  his  few  but   earnest   associates  had  not 
been    in  vain.     A  deep  and  tender  interest  had  been 
awakened,  and  this  meeting  was  looked  forward  to  with 
varied  feelings   of  solicitude  by  all  parties.      All    felt 
that  the  time  had  come  for  some  definite  action.  .    .    . 
At  length,"  after  a  "  solemn  and  weighty  appeal  "  from 
John  Woolman,  "  the  truth  in  a  great  measure  triumphed 
over  opposition  ;   and,  without  any  public  dissent,  the 
meeting  agreed  that  the  injunction   of  our   Lord  and 
Saviour,  to  do  to  others  as  we  would  that  others  should 
do  to  us,  should  induce  Friends  who  held  slaves  '  to 
set   them  at  liberty,  making  a  Christian  provision  for 
them  ;'  and  four  Friends  "  (of  whom  John  Woolman  was 
one)  "  were  approved  of  as  suitable  persons  to  visit  and 
treat  with  such  as  kept  slaves,  within  the  limits  of  the 
meeting. 

*  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Society  of  Friends  in  America 
consists  of  many  Yearly  Meetings,  each  of  which  is  supreme  and 
independent  within  its  own  compass.  Their  number  has  considerably 
increased  since  John  Woolman 's  time;  and  in  the  Western  States 
there  is  also  a  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  members. 


2o8  APPENDIX. 

"  This  painful  and  difficult  duty  was  faithfully  ])er- 
formed.  .    .    .  These   labours   were   attended   with   the 
blessing  of  the  God  of  the  poor  and  oppressed.     Dealing 
in  slaves  was  almost  entirely  abandoned,  and  many  who 
held  slaves  set  them  at  liberty.     But  many  members  still 
continuing  the  practice,    a   more   emphatic   testimony 
against  it  was  issued  by  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  1 774 ;  and 
two  years  after,  the  subordinate  meetings  were  directed 
to  deny  the  right  of  membership  to  such  as  persisted  in 
holding  their  fellow-men  as  property.  ...  In  the  year 
1760,  John  Woolman,  in  the  course  of  a  religious  visit  to 
New  England,  "attended  their  Yearly  Meeting,  where  "the 
London  Epistle  for  1758,  condemning  the  unrighteous 
traffic  in  men,  was  read,  and  the  substance  of  it  embodied 
in  the  discipline  of  the  meeting  ;  and  the  following  query 
was  adopted,  to  be  answered  by  the  subordinate  meet- 
ings :   '  Are  Friends  clear  of  importing  negroes,  or  buying 
them  when  imported  ;  and  do  they  use  those  well  where 
they  are  possessed  by  inheritance  or  otherwise,  endeav- 
ouring to  train  them  up  in  principles  of  religion  ?  *   .   .   . 
In  1 769,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Rhode  Island  Quarterly 
Meeting,  the  Yearly  Meeting  expressed  its  sense  of  the 
'  Avrongfulness  of  holding  slaves,  and  appointed  a  large 
committee  to  visit  those  members  who  were  implicated 
in  the  practice.  ...  It  was  stated,  in  the  Epistle  to 
London  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  year  1772,  that  a  few 
Friends  had  freed  their  slaves  from  bondage,  but  that 
others  '  have  been  so  reluctant  thereto,  that  they  have 
been  disowned'^''-  for  not  complying  with  the  advice  of 
this  meeting.' 

*  The  italics  are  throughout  Whittier's. 


APPENDIX.  209 

"  In  1773,  '^^  following  minute  was  made  :  '  It  is  our 
sense  that  truth  not  only  requires  the  young  of  capacity 
and  ability,  but  likewise  the  aged  and  impotent,  and  also 
all  in  a  state  of  infancy  and  nonage,  among  Friends,  to 
be  discharged  and  set  free  from  a  state  of  slavery ;  that 
we  do  no  more  claim  property  in  the  human  race,  as  we 
do  in  the  beasts  that  perish.' 

"  In  1 782,  no  slaves  were  known  to  be  held  in  the  New 
England  Yearly  Meeting.  The  next  year,  it  was  recom- 
mended to  the  subordinate  meetings  to  appoint  com- 
mittees to  effect  a  pjoper  and  just  settlement  between  the 
manumitted  slaves  and  their  former  masters  for  their  past 
services.  In  1 7S4,  it  was  concluded  by  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing that  any  slaveholder  who  refused  to  comi)ly  with 
the  award  of  these  committees  should,  after  due  care 
and  labour  with  him,  be  disowned  from  the  Society. 
This  was  effectual ;  settlements  without  disownment  were 
made  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties,  and  every  case 
was  disposed  of  previous  to  the  year  1787. 

"  In  the  New  York  Yearly  Meeting,  slave-trading  was 
prohibited  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  In  1 771, 
in  consequence  of  an  epistle  from  the  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  visit  those  who 
held  slaves,  and  to  advise  with  them  in  relation  to 
emancipation.  In  1776,  it  was  made  a  disciplinary 
offence  to  buy,  sell,  or  hold  slaves  upon  any  condition. 
In  1784,  but  one  slave  was  to  be  found  in  the  limits 
of  the  meeting.  In  the  same  year,  by  answers  from  the 
several  subordinate  meetings,  it  was  ascertained  that  an 
equitable  settlement  for  past  services  had  been  effected 


2IO 


APPENDIX. 


between  the  emancipated  negroes  and  their  masters  in 
all  but  three  cases. 

"  In  the  Virginia  Yearly  Meeting  slavery  had  its 
strongest  hold."  In  1757,  it  "  condemned  the  foreign 
slave  trade.  In  1764,  it  enjoined  upon  its  members  the 
duty  of  kindness  towards  their  servants,  of  educating 
them,  and  carefully  providing  for  their  food  and  clothing. 
Four  years  after,  its  members  were  strictly  prohibited 
from  purchasing  any  more  slaves.  In  1773,  it  earnestly 
recommended  the  immediate  manumission  of  all  slaves 
held  in  bondage,  after  the  females  had  reached  eighteen 
and  the  males  twenty-one  years  of  age.  At  the  same 
time  it  was  advised  that  committes  should  be  appointed 
for  the  purpose  of  instructing  the  emancipated  persons 
in  the  principles  of  morality  and  of  religion,  and  for 
advising  and  aiding  them  in  their  temporal  concerns.  .  .  . 

"In  1784,  the  different  Quarterly  Meetings  having 
reported  that  many  still  held  slaves,  notwithstanding  the 
advice  and  entreaties  of  their  friends,  the  Yearly  Meeting 
directed  that,  where  endeavours  to  convince  those 
offenders  of  their  error  proved  ineffectual,  the  Monthly 
Meeting  should  proceed  to  disown  them.  We  have  no 
means  of  ascertaining  the  precise  number  of  those 
actually  disowned  for  slave -holding  in  the  Virginia 
Yearly  Meeting,  but  it  is  well  known  to  have  been  very 
small.  In  almost  all  cases  the  care  and  assiduous 
labours  of  those  who  had  the  welfare  of  the  Society  and 
of  humanity  at  heart  were  successful  in  inducing 
offenders  to  manumit  their  slaves,  and  confess  their 
error  in  resisting  the  wishes  of  their  friends,  and  bringing 
reproach  upon  the  cause  of  truth. 


APPENDIX.  211 

"  So  ended  slavery  in  the  Society  of  Friends.  For 
three-quarters  of  a  century  the  advice  put  forth  in  the 
meetings  of  the  Society  at  stated  intervals,  that  Friends 
should  be  '  careful  to  maintain  their  testimony  against 
slavery,'  has  been  adhered  to,  so  far  as  owning,  or  even 
hiring,  a  slave  is  concerned.  Apart  from  its  first  fruits 
of  emancipation,  there  is  a  perennial  value  in  the  example 
exhibited  of  the  power  of  truth,  urged  patiently  and  in 
earnest  love,  to  overcome  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
the  eradication  of  an  evil  system,  strengthened  by  long 
habit,  entangled  with  all  the  complex  relations  of  society, 
and  closely  allied  with  the  love  of  power,  the  pride  of 
family,  and  the  lust  of  gain.' 

I  need  hardly  remind  my  readers  of  the  singular 
interest  of  John  Woolman's  own  account  of  his 
experiences  in  this  and  other  matters,  which  would 
scarcely  admit  of  abridgment.  I  have,  therefore,  been 
obliged,  though  unwillingly,  to  content  myself  with  the 
above  bare  enumeration  of  the  actual  steps  taken  by  the 
various  meetings,  without  making  any  attempt  to  show 
to  what  an  extent  John  Woolman's  own  deep  exercises 
of  mind  contributed  to  bring  them  about.  For  a  study 
of  Quaker  experience,  in  its  purest  and  most  impressive 
form,  the  "Journal"  itself  is  perhaps  unrivalled. 


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